Crashing
by autonwallyluvr
Summary: [Automan] After finding out about his failed hit on both LAPD Officer Walter Nebicher and Automan, Tilson decides to take matters into his own hands. Sequel to Trapped. Rating for some violence and sexual content.
1. Changing Tactics

Automan: Crashing (sequel to "Trapped")

By autonwallyluvr

Disclaimer: I don't own Automan--wish I did. (Ahhh . . . my very own handsome, blond-haired, blue-eyed ahh. . . . just my type, artificially intelligent hologram. Hey, a girl can dream can't she?) I also don't own the characters Walter Nebicher, Roxanne Caldwell, Jack Curtis, Cursor, Captain Boyd, Ronald Tilson, Teresa Fuentes, or Zakzon, either. So, please don't sue. Besides, you wouldn't get much money out of me anyway. The characters Jordan Sanders/Shadow, Jones, John Tyler, and any other miscellaneous characters are mine all mine as well as the story idea, so please ask permission first before using them. Oh, and if the names, characters, places, and incidents bear any resemblance to the actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, they are a product of my sometimes overactive imagination and/or used fictitiously and are entirely coincidental. Oh, hey, and I don't own 'Tron' and any Tron-like elements in this story are most definitely a product of my very overactive imagination and are used fictitiously and are entirely coincidental as well. Well, enjoy.

Ch. 1--Changing Tactics

A dark-haired man, Ronald Tilson, sat on the end of the bed watching CNN on the only television in the room. He wasn't worried too much about any interruptions. As long as they paid their dues every night, the "manager" at the motel--if he bothered to call the greasy-haired man who had greeted them a manager--didn't bother them. His "roommate", Jones, was out getting them both something to eat and wouldn't be back for some time. (His associate tended to cavort in his nice, "new" sports car he had appropriated trying to impress the women. Tilson had told his companion to get rid of the car. It was too easily traceable. Jones wouldn't do it.)

His attention became suddenly riveted to the screen when he heard "Shadow". Using the remote, he turned the volume up slightly.

"On the streets, he was known only as 'Shadow'. No longer," said the reporter. "Today, the professional hit man, Jordan Sanders will face execution."

"One month ago, he had been arrested, tried, and convicted for the attempted murders of LAPD Officer Walter Nebicher and Federal Agent Otto Mann."

A side by side picture of a young man with wavy black hair and brown eyes--the caption underneath the picture read "Nebicher"--and a young man with straight blond hair parted to the right and blues eyes--the caption underneath the picture read "Mann"--were shown behind the reporter. The picture switched to "live" coverage of a young man with dyed brown hair, Sanders, being lead to the trial in handcuffs.

"On top of the two attempted murder charges," continued the reporter. "Sanders has also been linked to other multiple murders as well."

Tilson turned off the television with disgust. Sanders/Shadow had failed! Nebicher and "Otto Mann" still lived! Now he'd have to hold off terrorizing LA until he was able to get rid of the only two people who might be able to stop him! He realized with Shadow arrested and set to be executed, Tilson no longer had any use for Jones. Time to take care of Jones and his "little car problem".

A couple hours later, Jones returned with two bags of food. He handed one bag to Tilson. "Dinner's on."

Tilson dug into the bag and took out the sandwich and fries Jones had gotten for him. "Drinks?"

Jones went to the end table in between the two beds. He came back carrying two large cups. He handed one to Tilson. They ate in silence.

Later that night while Jones was fast asleep on the other bunk, Tilson got up. He had fallen asleep in what he was wearing. He quietly went to the chair near Jones bed and silently grabbed the keys off of the chair. He stealthily left the room heading for the sports car. He unlocked the door and settled in for a major rewiring job. He was going to get rid of two problems in one fell swoop.

Hours later, Tilson clandestinely returned to the hotel room and silently replaced the keys on the chair. He went into the bathroom and quickly cleaned up. He went to his bed and laid back down spent from all his hard work. He fell asleep with a slight smile on his face knowing two of his problems would soon be history. He even had an inkling of an alternative plan to take out his other two infuriating aggravations before they spoiled his chances to terrorize LA until the city paid the money he felt LA owed him. First, he would need a change of location, but he would deal with that problem in the morning.

Tilson had slept in the next morning. When he woke up, Jones was gone. Tilson figured Jones was out trying to impress the ladies with his "nice, new sports car". Tilson quickly got up and packed the meager belongings he had and left the hotel.

When Tilson passed the front desk, the manager asked, "Checking out?"

"Yes."

"Well, you still owe $20 for last night."

"Right." Tilson dug into the right front pocket of his jeans and gave the man the money. He walked out the front door without a backwards glance. He walked for some time until he came across a resort. He stepped inside the posh resort telling the manager he was only going to use the ATM machine and he'd leave. The manager allowed him to come in, but he kept on annoyingly close eye on him. Tilson worked quickly programming a substantial amount of money back for himself. After he completed the money transaction, he left. He stopped in a nearby Radio Shack and bought a floppy disk figuring he would need it for part of his plan to work.

On the street, he hailed a cab. He asked the cabbie to take him into the outskirts of LA. Just before reaching the outskirts of Long Beach, they went past an accident involving multiple cars. Tilson got a good look at one of the cars involved in the accident. It was Jones' "nice, new sports car" mangled almost beyond recognition. 'There's no way Jones could have survived that crash,' silently thought Tilson to himself with satisfaction. He leaned back in the seat of the cab smiling to himself. Two problems down; two to go.

Once at LA, Tilson hailed another cab to take him to the cheapest hotel/motel. The cab pulled up to a very similar looking motel to the one he just left. He quickly checked in. He went to a nearby clothing store and bought some new outfits. He went to the motel and quickly changed.

He left the motel and hailed a cab asking the driver to drop him off a few blocks from the LAPD precinct. He walked to the LAPD carefully avoiding any cops he saw. He looked around the building for a decent place to "stake out" the LAPD without being noticed. After a couple of hours of searching, he found one that was out of the way yet still gave him a clean view of its main front door.

Tilson went back and forth from his motel in LA to the LAPD at varying intervals. He would watch as the patrols would leave determining approximately which routes they took out of the precinct in order to more easily avoid them. He kept a close watch on the main front door trying to determine the days and shifts Nebicher worked. As he was studying the LAPD, he soon realized that Nebicher always left the station with either a graying black-haired man, Lt. Jack Curtis, and/or a blond woman, Office Roxanne Caldwell. He also realized Caldwell and Nebicher were a couple when he saw them holding hands every time they left the building.

Attacking Nebicher after he left the LAPD on his way home was out of the question, but Tilson had only vaguely considered attacking him outside of the LAPD anyway. He also saw janitors leaving the station at regular intervals. 'Janitors. Hmm,' thought Tilson. That gave him an idea. He went back to his motel room ruminating on how to make his barely formulated plan work. 'Very risky, but well worth it if I succeed. They won't get away from me this time,' he thought with conviction.


	2. Preemptive Strike

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 2--Preemptive Strike

The next day, Tilson went back to the LAPD making sure he had brought the floppy disk he had bought in Long Beach with him and hid in his customary place watching the janitors as they came to and went from the LAPD building. Before long, Tilson spotted a janitor who was just about the same height and stature as Tilson. He looked around to make sure no one else was around before he made his move. He quietly approached behind the aforementioned janitor and attacked the caretaker rendering the cleaning person unconscious.

He looked down at his unfortunate victim. "You're working at the **wrong **place." He quickly appropriated the janitor's uniform and dumped the unconscious janitor in a nearby dumpster. He hastily changed into the uniform putting the disk into the largest pocket he could find on the uniform. He entered the doorway he had seen the janitors use.

While keeping his head low to avoid recognition, Tilson swiftly made his way up to the floor where the computer room was located. After entering with a cleaning cart he had grabbed while still on the first floor, he casually went to the computer room. Hardly anyone was on the main squad floor this late at night. The few people who were there didn't pay him much attention. The door was locked, but one of the keys on the ring he had swiped from the janitor fit the lock perfectly. He unlocked the door and entered the room dragging the cleaning cart in. He made sure to close the door behind him. The Venetian blinds were all closed. He took out a duster to clean the blinds. He went over to the computer and booted it up. He acted as if he were cleaning the blinds to mask the noise the computer made as it booted up. After a few minutes, the computer had finished booting up signaling it was ready. Tilson studied the console for a minute trying to figure out which section Nebicher was most likely to use.

He would deal with that part of his plan in a few minutes. First, even though Tilson had figured out which days and what shift Nebicher regularly worked , he also knew Nebicher was called in every so often at odd hours. Probably because Nebicher was the only computer expert the LAPD had. Tilson had to make sure Nebicher wasn't called in **tonight**. Using the LAPD computer, he accessed the communications program controlling the phones making sure to have the computer block all calls from the LAPD to Nebicher's home phone for tonight only. Then, he programmed the computer not to divulge where the extra programming came from. That task done, Tilson decided to find out what he could about the "Otto Mann" hologram. Figuring "Otto Mann" to be some kind of alias, Tilson programmed in a search for any homonyms and synonyms to "Otto Mann" he could think of. As the search was running , Tilson pretended to be cleaning more Venetian blinds. After a couple of minutes, the search was completed. Tilson studied the results. One particular result caught his eye: the program called Automan. 'Interesting. "Otto Mann"; "Automan". I think I just found what I've been looking for,' thought Tilson with a small smile.

Using an adjacent part of the computer console, Tilson took out the floppy disk he had hidden in the uniform and inserted it into a floppy disk drive on the side. He quickly created programming code that would corrupt any program it was attached to making that program eventually nonfunctional as well as forcing the computer not to divulge the source of the extra programming. He saved the programming code to the floppy disk.

He went back to the original terminal he had been working on. He accessed the floppy and attached the programming code to the Automan program. With that task completed, Tilson ejected his floppy putting the disk back in his uniform pocket.

'Now, onto the second part of the plan,' thought Tilson. He had figured out which section of the computer console Nebicher was most likely to use. He looked at the tools on the cleaning cart. Not many would be of much use to him for what he had in mind, but the few devices that may be of use, he was fairly certain he could modify for his purposes. He took out the paraphernalia he thought he may be able to use and set about modifying them to suit his needs.

After 15 minutes, he completed as many modifications to the tools as he could. After scrutinizing the instruments he had assembled/created, Tilson almost wished he had the proper equipment to complete his task. His work would go much smoother. Pushing aside his regrets, Tilson sat in front of the section of the console he thought Nebicher would be most likely to use and started carefully taking apart the instrumentation with his modified tools. Within minutes, he had the console dissected and ready for his manipulations. He carefully inspected the wiring. It was standard wiring. He cautiously clipped a few wires and rearranged others. After a short amount of time, he was done. He meticulously put the section of console he had rewired back together. He inspected his handiwork for any obvious signs of his tampering. He didn't readily see any.

He had one last task to perform. He went to the monitor and hacked into the LAPD computer. Once in, he programmed the computer to ignore the rewired part of the console. If a diagnostics was run, he programmed the computer to report that part of the computer was working fine. Tilson also reprogrammed the computer not to divulge the source of the extra programming. Finished, Tilson deleted any trace of his activities on the computer and shut it down. He quickly acted as if he were briefly finishing cleaning the Venetian blinds and dusting the computer before he left the computer room locking the door behind him. In the squad room, the day shift was slowly filtering in. He kept his head low to avoid detection. 'Nebicher and "Otto Mann" are in for some fiendish surprises,' thought Tilson with a smirk on his face as he swiftly made his way to the elevator and out of the building. With these two out of the way, he would soon be able to again unleash his wrath on LA until it paid for the misery it had caused him


	3. Close Call

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

A/N: Sorry for soooooo long an update. Just started a new job, and I'm still trying to acclimate to it! So without further interruption, on with the story...

Ch. 3--Close Call

Walter Nebicher walked into the LAPD main squad room heading for what had become for him a glass enclosed cage--the computer room. He went to his customary place by the computer console and booted up the computer. As he waited for the computer to finish booting up, he sat ruminating over his current situation at the precinct.

Ever since his close encounter with Tilson's hit man, the captain relegated him back to the computer room. He would much more prefer being out on the streets like his friend, Lt. Jack Curtis, or his friend/lover, Roxanne Caldwell, fighting crime. He had helped Jack solve some cases by processing information he would receive from Jack. Even Jack, who was at one time his most ardent supporter for him going out on the streets, seemed to almost be against Wally going out on the streets, especially with Tilson still on the loose.

Wally vividly remembered his encounter with Tilson's hit man. How he and Automan had been trapped in a conference room; how both had been injured; how Auto had managed to heal his own injury and fought to save both their lives; how he had eventually succumb to severe hypovolemic shock passing out; how he was in the hospital for three days.

One month had passed since then. His shoulder was healed, and he was going through physical therapy to regain near full use of his left shoulder and to strengthen his left arm. (Because of periodic, gentle electrical stimulation Automan had been applying to his shoulder, he was recovering near full use of his shoulder much faster.)

In some ways, Wally could understand their position. Once Tilson realized his hit man had failed, he would try to find another way to eliminate both him and Auto. If Wally were out on the streets, he would become an easier target for Tilson. He knew Jack, Roxanne, Auto, and even Captain Boyd would try to prevent that happening.

He heard a beep from the computer signaling it was ready. He sorted out the most recent information Jack had given him on a new case. He entered the information and initiated a search for any correlation between the data.

After a few minutes of running the search, Wally realized the part of the console he was sitting at seemed unusually warm. He went over to an adjacent monitor and quickly had the computer run a diagnostic of the hardware. While that diagnostic ran, he went back to check the search he had running earlier. The console under his hand seemed even warmer than just a few minutes ago. He thought it was only a short in the wiring somewhere. That would explain the warmth, although the console **was** hotter than even a simple short could explain. He went to the diagnostics scan he had initiated and checked the results. According to the report, the console was working fine. 'Hmm. I'll check it later,' thought Wally.

A sudden shaking as if an earthquake under his feet took place. The lights around him flashed and dimmed. Wally quickly glanced around the room to make sure all the Venetian blinds were shut before turning back to the monitor. A ball of light burst forth from the monitor circling Wally forcing him back from the console. "Cursor, what are you doing?" asked Wally a little annoyed at Cursor's constant attempt to force him away from the computer console. Wally saw a tall, shimmering silhouette of a man form near the door. As soon as Automan finished materializing, he quickly covered the distance between him and Walter. He grabbed Walter around the waist and effortlessly pulled Wally away from the computer console Walter was previously working on. A second later, that part of the console violently exploded spraying debris everywhere. Wally felt Auto shield his body with Auto's own protecting Wally from the flying debris.

Automan made sure to keep his electromagnetic body 'solid' so the flying debris would hit him instead of Walter. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut holding Walter in a tight embrace--without suffocating or injuring him--as various shards from the exploding console imbedded deep within his body. He refused to allow himself to cry out at the pain and alert Walter to how much pain his desperate ploy had caused him knowing Walter might possibly do something foolish and get himself hurt. He wasn't going to allow that possibility to happen.

After a few seconds, the sparks died down. Automan straightened up letting Walter go. He phased his body letting the imbedded shards fall to floor and stepped away from the shards that had fallen to the floor without the shards causing him any further pain or harming Walter. He quickly went to a wall socket and stretched out his hand towards the socket. Electricity arched out of the socket into the palm of his hand instantly healing the 'wounds' created from the imbedded debris.

Wally got his first real good look at the part of the console he had been working on. Debris lay everywhere on the floor. Wires hung out and a fire was burning within the gutted hole. Wally quickly turned to Automan and said, "Thanks, Auto, but you better change. I'm sure Jack along with the rest of the squad room heard that explosion and will be heading in here shortly." Wally heard Auto command, "Cursor." Wally didn't wait for Auto's acknowledgement before going to a corner of the computer room grabbing the fire extinguisher off of the wall.

Walter concentrated on putting out the fire before it spread to the rest of the computer. Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Auto disguised in a light gray shirt and a dark gray business suit and tie also aiming a fire extinguisher at the damaged section of the computer console. Wally hazarded a glance to the other corner where the other fire extinguisher had been sitting. It wasn't there now explaining where Auto had got the second fire extinguisher.

A couple of seconds later, a graying black-haired man, a blond woman, and a balding, graying black-haired man all headed into the computer room. They all stopped short in the computer room doorway surveying the damage. The balding, graying black-haired man was the first to speak, "Agent Mann, I didn't see you come in."

"Lucky for me, he did, Captain," replied Walter. Seeing that the fire was almost out, he and Auto tapered off their combined streams from their fire extinguishers. Seconds later, the fire was finally extinguished. Walter and Auto stopped dousing the console altogether and returned the fire extinguishers to their proper places.

The graying black-haired man, Lt. Jack Curtis, asked, "Are you both okay?"

"We're fine. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing for the computer," replied Wally. "We were able to keep the fire from spreading to any other sections of the computer. It's going to take me some time to investigate the rewiring job done to this part of the console to see who might have possibly had the expertise to booby trap the console without the computer sensing the malfunction."

"Could Tilson have been behind the rewiring?" asked Jack.

"It is a possibility," replied Auto. Feeling inexplicably weak, he sat down in the chair undamaged by the explosion.

"But how could he have possibly gotten into the LAPD without someone noticing him?" asked the blond woman, Roxanne Caldwell.

"Lieutenant, I want you to find out how _someone _might have possibly snuck into the LAPD unnoticed," ordered the captain to Jack.

"Yes, sir," replied Jack. He headed out of the computer lab.

"Another close call," said Captain Boyd in frustration. "Are you two sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Captain," replied both Wally and Auto simultaneously.

Captain Boyd scrutinized both Nebicher and Agent Mann for any apparent injuries. When he didn't spot any, he accepted their answer and left the room himself.

Walter and Roxanne noticed Automan's weak appearance. Truth be told, Walter had noticed Auto's weak look before Jack and Captain Boyd had left the room. He just hadn't said anything. Now, since both Jack and Captain Boyd had left the room, Wally turned to Auto. He asked the one question on both his and Roxanne's minds. "Auto, are you all right?"

"I don't know, Walter. I feel very weak all of the sudden. I'm going to have to be leaving you," replied Auto.

"Okay. I can handle the investigation from here. See you, Auto," said Wally. Roxanne silently nodded her thanks for saving Wally and her farewell.

Auto faded until he had totally disappeared.

Roxanne turned to Wally confused and a bit apprehensive. "What was that all about, love?" she asked referring to Automan's suddenly weakened condition.

"I'm not sure," replied Wally, uneasily. He was worried himself about what would cause Auto to become so weak so fast. "I'll look over his program at home when I get off of work. For right now, I have to check the damage and tampering done to the console. This was done by a professional." He approached the burned out console inspecting the destruction. As he carefully pried away the loose components, he noticed the devastation underneath wincing as he uncovered even more ruined instrumentation ravaged by the fire.

Seeing how Wally would be busy for the rest of his shift inspecting the burned out part of the console, Roxanne left the computer room. She was glad Wally and Automan were all right, but the captain was right. This was another close call. She had nearly lost Wally twice now. How many more "close calls" were they going to have before Tilson was brought to justice? She didn't even want to contemplate an answer to that question.

A/N: Again, sorry for the incredibly late update. I'll try to get the next chapter up even sooner. Thank you for your patience. Keep those reviews coming:)


	4. Symptoms

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 4--Symptoms

Later that evening, Wally sat at his computer in the den of his apartment near the marina. He had the programming code for Automan up on the monitor and was meticulously going through the code for any explanation for why Auto had gotten so weak so fast earlier today.

He had spotted some unusually corrupted code in Auto's program that he didn't have a ready rationalization for how the coding had become degraded. He corrected the commands and looked for and corrected any other unexplained corrupt code he could find.

After hours of meticulous searching and correcting, Wally went through Auto's program one last time without finding any more corrupted code. He decided to call up Auto and get his opinion on what he'd just found. He exited Auto's program saving the corrections he had made and executed Auto's programming.

A sudden shaking occurred as if a recent earthquake were taking place. The lights flashed and dimmed. A ball of light burst forth from the monitor. "Hi, Cursor," said Wally. Cursor hovered for a very brief time in front of Wally and beeped before hovering near the door. The tall, shimmering silhouette of a man started to form near the door. After Automan fully materialized, he turned to Wally saying, "Hello, Walter. You called?"

"Hi, Auto. Yeah, I did. How are you feeling?"

"Better. What did you do?"

"Bad news, Auto. I found some corrupted code in your program."

"My programming was corrupted?" asked Auto confused and a little worried.

"Yeah, I've corrected the corrupted code," reassured Wally. "I don't know how your program could have gotten corrupted in the first place, but I'm going to keep probing into how your program could have possibly have become degraded."

Auto seemed to reluctantly accept Wally's assurance.

"I do have a couple of questions for you," said Wally.

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, how did you know that that console was about to explode at the station?"

"I could sense the energy building up in the console to an explosion."

"That would explain the heat I felt. That leads me to my next question: Why didn't you just merge with me?"

"I felt too weak to merge--possibly as a result of the corrupt codes you said you found in my program. I was worried that if I did try to merge with you and the merge failed, I would inadvertently push you towards the console. I knew it was going to explode soon and decided the simplest course of action would be just to pull you away from the console and protect you from the flying debris resulting from the explosion."

It was Walter's turn to reluctantly accept Automan's explanation. Wally saw Auto suddenly grow weaker. "Auto, are you all right?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't know, Walter. I feel very weak again. I'm going to have to be leaving you," replied Auto.

Wally nodded and watched worriedly as Automan was forced to disappear again. '**What **is causing Auto to become so weak so fast?' thought Wally, frustrated. He called up Automan's program again checking the codes. More of Automan's program had become corrupted again. "What the... ? I just corrected this!" exclaimed Wally totally confused. He spent the rest of the night correcting the code.

Wally was still up well into the early morning hours the next day inspecting Automan's program all over again relieved when he couldn't find any more degraded commands. He set up a simple "error correction" command module inside Auto's programming that should prevent the corruption from recurring. Finished, he exited Auto's program saving the corrections and shut down the computer. Tired from being up late, he wearily headed for his bedroom. He was too exhausted to change and collapsed on his bed. Despite his fatigue, he couldn't fall asleep right away. His mind kept reechoing the corrupted code in front of his eyes. 'What's wrong with you, Auto?' was Wally's last thought before he finally surrendered to sleep.


	5. Inspecting the Damage

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

A/N: Sorry for the sorta long delay in posting up this next chapter. Was having a tough time getting to the library over Memorial Day weekend, so I was forced to go after Memorial Day. Bummer!

Ch. 5--Inspecting The Damage

Later that day in the LAPD building, Walter was once again in front of the damaged section of computer console in the computer room. Diverse fragments of the console lay at his feet. Yesterday, he had successfully managed to take apart the ruined instrumentation and inspect the damage caused by both the explosion and the fire. He was examining the parts that hadn't been totally mangled both to determine if the pieces might still function and for evidence related to the tampering. He had sent larger intact pieces down to the forensics lab to have them tested for fingerprints.

Wally wasn't sure how much--if any--of that section of the console he'd be able to salvage. The damage had been pretty extensive. He had put in a preliminary report and request for spare parts to the captain the day before. After re-examining the console, he realized he may need to replace even more parts that had been damaged by the fire. 'Luckily, Auto and I were able to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the computer,' thought Wally.

He noticed some wires that seemed to be out of place and bent over the damaged section again. He examined how the wires, which had been partially fried by the fire, were still semi-connected to the rest of the computer. 'These wires shouldn't be connected here,' thought Wally. 'Whoever had rewired this section knew exactly what he or she was doing. If Auto and I hadn't put out the fire as quickly as we had, these wires would have been completely burned beyond recognition. I never would have been able to determine which wires they originally were much less how they had been connected to the computer. This is starting to look more and more like Tilson's handiwork,' thought Wally apprehensively.

Realizing that Tilson may have been behind the tampering, Wally immediately decided to check the rest of the computer console as well as the programming for the LAPD computer. He didn't want to overlook any more tampering and possibly risk another explosion. With Auto's as yet unexplained weakening condition, Wally wasn't certain Auto would be able to rez up in time to save him from a second disaster. He went to a locked filing drawer where he kept spare tools just for the kind of operation he had in mind.

After five hours and a thorough check of the computer console's remaining components, Wally couldn't find any more tampering. He carefully started putting the console back together. After a couple of hours, the console was again in one piece, except for the damaged section. He rechecked all the connections. Everything looked O.K.

He looked to the door as it opened and Jack walked in. "Hi, Wally. I just came to see how you're holding up and how the investigation is going."

"I'm okay," replied Wally. He decided not to mention Auto's condition to Jack. "Whoever's behind the rewiring knew exactly what he or she was doing. The tampering was expertly done. If Auto--Agent Mann--and I hadn't put out the fire as quickly as we had, I wouldn't have been able to detect which wires had been tampered with much less how they had been connected tothecomputer. "I finished checking the rest of the hardware for any more tampering without finding any. I am just about to power up the computer."

"More and more, this is looking like Tilson's handiwork," said Jack resolutely.

"Yeah," replied Wally glumly. He went to a master power switch for the mainframes and flipped a few switches. Instantly, the mainframes started powering up and going through their boot procedures. Wally watched on one of the monitors as the coding for the boot up scrolled by. Everything looked fine so far. He had noticed one error concerning the nonfunctional part of the console, but he was able to ignore that error.

After several minutes, the computer finished booting up and the monitor beeped signaling it was ready for new programming. Wally grabbed the chair undamaged by the explosion and sat in front of the computer terminal.

"Everything power up okay?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, everything appears to be working okay. I'm going to check the software for any tampering as well."

"O.K. Be careful. Don't want what happened yesterday to happen again, huh?"

"O.K. I will." Wally quickly typed a string of commands on the computer.

"Keep me informed," ordered Jack.

"O.K." Jack heard Wally distractedly say. Jack looked at the monitor. The coding on it might as well have been in Japanese for all Jack was able to make out of it. He left the room to let Wally work. Wally hadn't even turned around when Jack opened the door, walked through the doorway, and closed the door behind him.

After 15 minutes of studying the programming for the LAPD computer, Wally looked around the computer room. He hadn't even seen Jack leave. Seeing that he was alone once more, Wally decided once again to call up Automan and see how effective his corrections to Auto's system last night had been. He typed 'Automan'. The phrase 'Enter access code:' appeared underneath. He typed 'crimefighter'. The phrase 'Access being verified. Please wait . . .' appeared underneath. A few seconds later, the words 'Access verified.' appeared underneath and a sudden rumbling could be heard and felt as if an earthquake were happening. The lights around him flashed and dimmed.

A ball of light burst forth from the monitor and hovered in front of Walter for a second and beeped before hovering near the door. "Hi, Cursor," greeted Wally. At least, he assumed Cursor had greeted him. A tall, shimmering silhouette of a man formed near the door. Wally immediately realized something was wrong with Automan right after Auto finished materializing. His body wasn't as bright or as well-defined as it usually was as if Auto were already low on energy. "Auto?" asked Wally concerned. He took a couple of steps closer wishing he knew exactly what was wrong and could instantaneously help.

"Hello, Walter. I'm afraid I won't be staying long. I'm very weak."

"O.K., Auto. I wanted to let you know we're fairly certain Tilson's behind the tampering." Wally paused as an alarming new thought entered his mind. "Auto, if Tilson **is **behind the rewiring of the LAPD computer, what if he somehow found a way to access your program from here? What if he's infected you with a virus? That might explain the corruption."

"You may be right, Walter."

"For once, Auto, I really, **really**, hope I'm wrong," said Wally, praying he was very mistaken.

"I'm sorry, Walter. I'm going to have to leave," said Auto.

"O.K., Auto. I promise that whatever the cause of the corruption, I'll get to the bottom of this."

Auto nodded in response before disappearing.

Walter sat for a second staring at the spot Automan had just vacated from. 'I don't understand! Those corrections **should **have helped him!' thought Wally in frustration. If the degradation was being caused by a virus as Wally feared, he would have to find a way to combat it soon or he'd lose Automan forever. That was **not **an option Wally was even willing to accept.

Wally accessed Automan's programming code studying it on the monitor. Even more of Auto's code had become corrupted again including in the "error correction" command module he had created last night just to prevent this type of degradation from occurring. He started locating and correcting all the degraded commands he found.

After many hours later, Wally had corrected all the corrupted codes he could find. He again went over Auto's programming. This time he was searching not just for corrupted code but any other miscellaneous programming code he didn't recognize as anything he had authored. He didn't find any more degraded commands or any miscellaneous, unrecognizable codes. If Tilson had infected Auto, Wally was having a real tough time finding the virus programming code. He figured if he could just find the virus, he could delete it and Auto would be fine. No such luck.

He exited Auto's program saving the changes he had made. He again called up the rest of the LAPD computer's programming and started again checking the codes for any tampering. When he finally assessed the last line of code, he looked at his watch. It was hours past the time his shift normally ended. The only miscellaneous programming he had found were some codes telling the computer to essentially ignore any malfunctions from the rewired console and report it as working fine. The commands also forced the computer not to divulge the source of the extra programming. He had saved the codes to a floppy disk for evidence but deleted them off the hard drive and tape back-up. Finished, he decided to head home and locked up the computer room. He might be able to give the LAPD computer a clean bill of health; he only wished he could say the same for Automan.


	6. Getting Worse

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

A/N: I will be updating roughly every weekend. Seems to be the only time I can get online. So sorry for the delay and any inconvenience. Again, thanks for my two faithful readers--and any other readers out there--for sticking with me and for reviewing:)

Ch. 6--Getting Worse

Walter was again at his computer in the den of his apartment near the marina. He wanted to see if the corrections he had made to Automan's program at work would help and tried calling up Auto. He typed 'Automan'. The phrase 'Enter access code:' appeared underneath. He typed 'crimefighter'. The phrase 'Access being verified. Please wait . . .' appeared underneath. A few seconds later, the words 'Access verified.' appeared underneath and a sudden rumbling could be heard and felt as if an earthquake were happening but tapered off quickly. The lights around him dimmed slightly.

A ball of light burst forth from the monitor and hovered almost excitedly in front of Walter. Cursor beeped and twitted to Walter in cursor talk before remembering Walter wouldn't be able to understand him.

"Cursor, where's Automan?" asked Wally confused and worried.

Cursor went back into the monitor.

"Wait, Cursor! Where are you going?" exclaimed Wally alarmed.

Words started to form on the monitor. Wally read aloud what Cursor was writing/typing with increasing apprehension.

_**"'Walter,**_

_**Automan is too weak to rez up. He wanted me to tell you he suspects that you areright. Tilson has somehow infected him with a lethal virus. It is killing him. He's not sure how long he can last. He can feel his energy deteriorating every minute.'"**_

The words disappeared from the monitor and Cursor again shot from the monitor to hover near Wally.

Shocked by what he just read, Wally quickly went over possible solutions to saving Auto. He didn't have much time. Automan was getting worse. He turned to Cursor. "O.K., Cursor. Tell him to just hang on. I'm going to try correcting as much of his program as I can from here."

Cursor beeped his understanding and disappeared into the monitor.

Wally brought up Automan's programming code on the screen. Even more of Auto's code had become corrupted again despite the corrections he had just made to Automan's system earlier this evening. When he checked the "error correction" command module, the section had become so corrupted it was almost useless. Wally deleted the old "error correction" code and recreated a new "error correction" command module with an anti-virus programming modification. He, then, started locating and correcting what he could of Auto's program.

He had been correcting Auto's coding for hours when he realized there was only one way he was going to be able to save Auto. He would have to somehow enter Auto's world and somehow find a way to extract the virus from Automan from inside the computer. He still continued correcting as much of Auto's code as he could while contemplating how he was going to get into Auto's world. He remembered when he met with his college friend Terri Fuentes and had been mildly interested in her career choice as a computer laser expert. He recalled an article he had read about some exciting new experiments she and her colleagues were working on involving digitizing objects.

He left the "error correction" code run on his computer, got up grabbing his jacket, and left heading for Terri's apartment. She'd know or at least have some idea of what he was talking about when he mentioned Automan seeing how she had helped him create Automan while they were both in college. 'Maybe she can help,' thought Wally optimistically. Besides Auto's always wanted to meet her and he thought they should meet.


	7. Recruiting Crucial Help

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. On with the story...

Ch. 7--Recruiting Crucial Help

Wally arrived in Terri's apartment complex and anxiously stood outside her doorway. He had never told Terri that he had actually succeeded in creating Automan. How was he going to explain Automan to her? Her brother knew him as Federal Agent Otto Mann.

He put aside his fears and loudly knocked on the door. "Terri! Terri, it's Wally! Please, I need your help!" pleaded Wally.

A young, dark-haired Hispanic woman a couple of inches shorter than Wally in a pink, cotton, loose-fitting robe answered the door. Her wavy black hair was ruffled from sleep. "Wally?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Please, Terri, can I come in?"

She didn't say anything. She just opened the door wider so he could step inside and closed the door behind him. Once inside, she glanced at a clock on the wall in her living room. It said four o'clock. She turned scrutinizing him. He seemed unhurt, so what could he possibly need help with that couldn't wait until later that morning? "What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

Wally decided the best course of action would be just to come out and tell her the truth. "I really need your help. Remember the holographic game I was creating in college called Automan?"

Terri had some idea of what he was referring to. "Yeah, sort of. What about it?"

"Well, I created it--him. He's **real**, but he's also in a lot of trouble. He's been infected with a lethal virus. I need your help," explained Wally quickly.

"Hold on," said Terri. Her sleep-deprived mind tried desperately to understand what he was saying. "You created **him**? A lethal virus? Wally, what are you talking about?"

Wally forced himself to slow down. He knew that at the rate Automan was deteriorating he didn't have much time to convince her to help him, but he desperately needed her to understand him. He drew a quick breath and tried again. "The Automan program? I created him, Terri. He's **real**, but he's in a lot of trouble. He's been infected with a lethal virus." He paused. "I need your help defeating this virus before it kills him," pleaded Wally.

Mention of the Automan program a second time finally clicked the pieces together for Terri. She remembered helping Wally in college create a program called Automan. Now, Wally's saying he's already created the program? And Automan's been infected with a lethal virus that's killing him? She scrutinized Wally's face to see if he was sincere. She realized he **was **deeply in earnest and very obviously desperate. "What do you need me to do?" asked Terri.

"We need to go to your laser lab. I need you to digitize and send me into my computer."

"'Digitize and send you into your computer'?" She knew he had to be referring to her digitizing project, which had been successful in digitizing some inanimate objects. She was still wary of trying the technique on a living person. "That's too dangerous, Wally! We're still perfecting digitizing inanimate objects!" objected she.

"**Please**, Terri. I **have **to help him," Wally passionately implored.

Terri could understand how Wally might become somewhat attached to the programs he had created, but his depth of caring for **this **particular program seemed to extend far beyond that level. Seeing his sincerity, Terri asked, "You really care for him, don't you?"

Wally briefly looked down before focusing on Terri's face and softly admitting with conviction, "Yes, I do." He continued in a more urgent tone, "I need your help. **Please**. Before it's too late."

She saw the absolute desperate pleading in his eyes for her to understand and help him and conceded, "All right. Let me get dressed, and we'll head for the lab."

Wally relaxed slightly as he quickly realized she not only believed him but was willing to help him. He nodded before saying, "Please hurry. We don't have much time." Wally quietly thought to himself with some concern, 'Just hang on, Auto. I've just recruited us some crucial help.'

A/N: Again sorry for the incredibly looooooooooooooooong delay. Please keep those reviews coming! Keeps me writing :)


	8. Creating Crucial Rescue Equipment

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 8--Creating Crucial Rescue Equipment

Wally pulled up to a monolithic, multi-storied building. A lighted sign in front read "Nextgen Laser Lab Technologies". Terri directed him to pull behind the building to the ground level entrance in the rear. Wally parked his car, and both he and Terri climbed out.

A young, blond security guard met them. "Hey, you can't park here." His demeanor changed when he noticed Terri. "Hello, Dr. Fuentes. I'm sorry I didn't see you there. What brings you out here so early in the morning?"

Terri was a little nervous about coming to the lab this early in the morning. She usually wasn't here this early. She tried not to let her uneasiness show on her face. "Hi, Jon. This is my good friend Wally." Wally smiled and nodded to Jon. "I got a report at home of a possible alarm in the lab," continued Terri. "Since Wally's a cop, I asked him to come with me to check it out."

Wally pulled out his badge showing it to the security guard.

Jon took Wally's badge and quickly scrutinized it before returning it to Wally. "I haven't heard about any alarms in the lab," said Jon.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd still like to check out the lab. Make sure none of the equipment was damaged."

"Sure, Dr. Fuentes. It was nice meeting you, Office Nebisher."

"Nebicher," Wally automatically corrected with an understanding smile.

"I'm sorry, Officer Nebicher." He and Wally shook hands.

Terri led Wally into the rear entrance and into her lab. Once in the lab, Wally looked around the lab staring at all the futuristic looking devices on various tables. The various apparatus--most he couldn't even begin to fathom what they were for--would put his most sophisticated electronics gaming equipment he had at home to shame. Three powerful looking lasers in the center of the lab caught his attention. They were all pointing at a targeting platform.

Terri turned to Wally and asked, "O.K. What exactly do you need?"

"First, I'm going to need a scanner to detect the virus in Automan's system," said Wally tearing his attention away from the lasers and towards Terri. "I've tried looking for the virus once already without any luck."

"Well, what exactly are Automan's 'symptoms'?"

"Well, when he materializes in our world, . . ."

"Materializes?" interrupted Terri.

"Automan is an electro-magnetically generated evolving AI 3-D hologram with substance. He uses electricity to appear in our world," explained Wally.

"O.K. . . . 'When he materializes' . . . what?"

"He appears weak--low on energy. When I've checked his program, I've come across corrupted code."

"What did you do to correct the degradation?"

"At first, I just corrected the code. The second time I came across the corrupted code I created an 'error correction' command module inside Automan's program to stop the corruption, but it didn't work. The 'error correction' program got corrupted as well."

"I have an idea of what this virus may look like based on what you've told me about how it interacts with Automan's system," said Terri. She went to a table and picked up what looked like a graphics calculator with many function buttons in place of number buttons. She booted up a nearby computer. While she was waiting for the computer to boot up, she went to a nearby drawer and took a cable out of the drawer hooking one end of the cable to the device in her hands. After a few minutes, the computer signaled it was ready. She put the other end of the cable into a socket in the back of the computer. She sat down in front of the computer quickly typing in a string of commands.

Wally approached her position curious as to what she was doing. He saw her download the commands into the device before detaching the cable from both the computer and the gadget.

She turned to him and handed him the apparatus. "I've downloaded into this portable scanner the approximate specifications needed to detect the virus." She showed him how to operate the scanner and pointed out which button did what.

Wally took the device. Now he had a way to detect what was harming Auto, but how was he going to extract and contain--and eventually eliminate--the virus? He posed the question to Terri.

"I've been thinking about that based on what I believe the virus to look like." Terri went to a part of the lab and quickly partially dismantled one of the lasers.

Wally asked her, "Don't you need that laser to digitize me?"

"I don't necessarily need all three lasers to digitize someone or something; just two. The third laser is usually used more for guiding the other two lasers, but theoretically I could still digitize someone using just two of the lasers," replied Terri.

"'Theoretically'?" echoed Wally nervously.

Terri shrugged as she came closer to Walter's position with what appeared to Wally like common kitchen tongs. "Well, the whole field of digitization is still in the experimental stages yet--as I'm sure you already know." Wally nodded in understanding. She showed him the "tongs". "You should be able to safely extract the virus with these."

"Tongs?" asked Wally skeptically.

"They look like tongs, but they're actually energy rods." She saw Wally's apprehensive look at the "tongs" and quickly reassured him. "Don't worry. They only give off a small amount of energy. Nothing that would harm Automan or you, but it would be just enough energy to disrupt the virus allowing you to remove it from Automan's system and preventing it from reattaching to him or attaching to you."

"Attaching to **me**?" asked Wally confused.

"Yes. Once you've been digitized, you will 'become' in essence a program in the computer. If I'm right about this virus you've described, it will attach to any nearby program. Including you."

"O.K. I get the idea. What about containing it?" Wally paused as an idea formed in his mind. "Terri, Auto and I . . ."

"Auto?" broke in Terri confused.

"My nickname for Automan," said Wally a little apologetically. "He and I were once trapped in a room. The person who had trapped us prevented Auto from escaping by creating an energy barrier around the room. Couldn't we use something similar to confine the virus?"

"What was the effect of this barrier on Automan?"

"It caused him excruciating pain when he got too close to it," said Wally unpleasantly recalling the intense agony he and Auto had felt when they brushed against the barrier while they were still merged.

"It wouldn't work. If you accidentally got the container too close to him--or I suspect even you, it would cause him severe pain. That could be very dangerous in his currently weakened condition."

"Isn't there some way to shield us from the energy barrier? Like they do for radioactive materials?" asked Wally unwilling to give up on his idea.

"'Shield'?" pondered Terri. "That just might work, Wally."

Wally smiled when she finally agreed to his idea.

Terri went to the dismantled laser and took out the last energy rod. She went to a table where a modified small metal box sat. She bent over the small container readjusting pieces of it. After a few minutes, she straightened up, and Wally got his first good look at the device. The energy rod--encased in lead--had wires leading inside the apparatus. Terri turned to Wally with the box in her hand. She swiftly showed him how he would be able to safely deposit the virus in the container once he had removed it from Automan's program. She put down the box and went to an adjacent table picking up what looked like three high-tech watches. She handed two of them to Wally.

He held up one of the watches inspecting it. It didn't look like any watch he had ever seen. "What are these for?"

"I know these look like watches, but they're actually communicators my team has been perfecting for when we do feel it is safe to attempt to digitize someone," said Terri. "We call them comwatches. These will allow me to stay in contact with you while your digitized and allow me to monitor your energy level. I'll be able to warn you if your energy level gets too low and I'll be able to bring you back. Just before we're ready to digitize you, put one of the watches on." She quickly showed Wally how to work the communicator on the comwatch by pressing a button on the side.

"Who's the other comwatch for?"

"Automan. Since his system requires energy to survive, this will allow me to closely monitor his energy levels. Don't put it on him, however, until you've safely removed the virus from his system. Otherwise, the virus will start corrupting the communicator."

Wally nodded his understanding.

Terri put the third watch on right away. She and Wally gathered up all the devices they had come up with to combat the virus and laid the equipment on a table. Terri went to a nearby hook on a wall and took down a cloth bag. She handed the bag to Wally. "You can put the tools in here without them getting damaged."

Wally carefully put the devices inside the bag. Once he was done, he turned to Terri. "Terri, I need to show you how to correct Auto's programming code from here. I have a feeling it's going to take both of us to fix the damage done to Auto's system by this virus. I will also need your help backtracking the source code of the virus. I have to find out who did this to Auto." He went over, sat at the computer she had running and quickly tapped into his home computer bringing up Automan's code on the monitor. He briefly showed her the difference between the corrupted commands and unaffected commands. He, then, explained and demonstrated to her how to correct the codes. "Before we get started, though, I need to call up Automan."

"But I thought he was too weak to materialize?" asked Terri confused.

"He is, but Cursor should be able to appear. Cursor is only a small part of Automan's program, so he should have remained unaffected by the virus--so far."

"Who or what is a 'Cursor'?" asked Terri her confusion growing.

"You could say he's Automan's helper. He can relay my plan to Automan." He looked to find her still perplexed. "You'll see."

He typed 'Load Automan'. The phrase 'Enter access code:' appeared underneath. He typed 'crimefighter'. The phrase 'Access being verified. Please wait . . .' appeared underneath. A few seconds later, the phrase 'Access verified.' appeared underneath and a sudden rumbling could be heard and felt as if an earthquake were happening in the lab but tapered off quickly. The lights around them dimmed slightly.

Terri looked around nervously. "Wally, what's going on?"

"It's okay," Wally quickly reassured her. A ball of light burst forth from the monitor and circled Terri once before hovering almost excitedly in front of Walter. Cursor beeped and twitted to Walter in cursor talk.

"Cursor, how's Automan?" asked Wally worriedly.

Cursor went back into the monitor.

Words started to form on the screen. Wally read aloud what Cursor was writing/typing with increasing apprehension.

"'Walter,

Automan's condition is still worsening and he has become even weaker. The 'error correction' program you initiated has helped but very slowly. He can still feel his energy deteriorating every minute. He's not sure how long he can last.'"

The words disappeared from the monitor and Cursor again shot from the monitor to hover near Wally.

"Wait a minute," said Terri confused. She looked to Wally. "I thought you said that the 'error correction' command module you had created had become corrupted."

"It had," replied Wally. "I deleted the old 'error correction' program and created a new one with an anti-virus modification once I suspected a virus."

Terri nodded in understanding.

"Okay, Cursor," acknowledged Wally with dismay to Cursor. "I've got a plan that will help him, but I'm going to need **your **help. I'll also have Terri"--he pointed towards Terri--"help by correcting Auto's code from here. We've found a way to identify, extract and contain the virus, but it requires me going into the computer. I'm going to have Terri digitize and send me into the computer. Once I'm in the computer, I'll need you to guide me to Automan's position."

Cursor again went back into the monitor. Walter read aloud the words forming on the screen.

"'Walter,

I understand. One of Automan's best friends, Zakzon, and I will help guide you to Automan's position. We must hurry. Automan's condition is worsening every minute.'"

The words disappeared from the monitor again and Cursor once again shot from the monitor to hover near Wally.

"Tell him to just hang on," instructed Walter. "We're on our way."

Cursor beeped his understanding and disappeared into the monitor.

Wally stood, grabbed the cloth bag off the table and slung it over his neck and left shoulder. He put one comwatch in the bag. As he quickly put on the other comwatch, he found himself becoming increasingly apprehensive about the impulsive course of action he had chosen to save Automan. Digitizing was still in the early stages of development. There was no telling what could go wrong. He sighed trying to calm his nerves. With a sudden determination, he turned to Terri. "All right, Terri. All set."

Terri pointed to a target on the floor. "Stand there." Wally complied. Terri turned back to the computer and typed in a string of commands running test sequences to assure herself that all microcomputers used to align and control the array were working properly. Satisfied that her program was running correctly, she put on some safety goggles that had been sitting near the computer. "Okay, Wally. Here goes."

She initiated the program and a hum and the closing of relays could be heard. The two lasers erupted into one coherent beam of light unlike any that existed in nature. It enfolded Wally. For a moment, Wally's appearance wavered, like that of a poorly received television picture. Then he was gone.

She connected into Wally's computer and "sent" Wally into his computer before again bringing up Automan's programming code on the monitor and correcting the coding based on the instructions Wally had given her. 'Good luck, Wally,' thought Terri with concern. She knew how much Automan meant to Wally and truly hoped they would be able to save Automan.


	9. Inside Auto's World

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

A/N: Sorry again for the late update. Busy-season work! A long chapter, but well worth waiting for:) Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do. Without further delay, on with the story...

Ch. 9--Inside Auto's World

After Wally was digitized, he looked around him. He was on top of an open, stage like surface atop an enormous building surrounded by a cylinder of light that stretched up into infinity.

When Wally looked at himself, he found he was aglow, a being of light. Incandescent lines, resembling circuitry, ran over his torso and limbs, reminding him of the meridian lines he'd seen on acupuncture charts. He looked around, dazed.

Cursor and another program were swiftly approaching his position. Cursor still had the same spherical appearance he had in Wally's world--the reason Wally instantly recognized Cursor. The other program was humanoid in appearance with curly light brown hair and a luminescent body also lined with what looked like glowing lines of circuitry. Beyond them, Wally could see the walls, balconies, stages, and towers of an incredible complex. The whole set of buildings seemed to be filled with color he had only seen in some of the holographic games he had created in his spare time. The sight, although a bit bizarre and unsettling, was arresting, even gorgeous. He slowly turned around gaping. 'I made it!' thought Wally, excitedly.

Just before Cursor and the other program reached Wally's position, Wally quickly checked the equipment in the bag he had brought with him. After a cursory examination, Walter realized the devices all appeared to have made it through the digitizing process intact.

When Cursor and the other program arrived at his position, Cursor told him, "Walter, this is one of Automan's best friend's Zakzon."

Wally looked to Cursor amazed he was able to understand Cursor without the use of a monitor realizing that this must be what it's like for Auto to communicate with Cursor. "Hi, Cursor, Zakzon. I don't know if Cursor told you who I am."

"You're Walter Nebicher. Automan's Creator. Yes, he has told me about you and the reason you're here. He also told me of your friend, Terri, who will be helping us from your world. We must hurry. Automan is very weak," replied Zakzon with a sense of urgency.

Walter motioned for them to lead the way. Cursor and Zakzon guided Walter to Automan's location. After a short while of walking, the trio located Automan. A crowd of "people" of various shapes and sizes were around Auto. Wally looked to Zakzon and asked, "Who are all these . . . 'people'?"

"They're all programs that Automan has befriended," explained Zakzon simply.

"Why are they all here?"

"They're as worried about Automan as you are," replied Zakzon. He continued with a small smile. "They also know that Automan's Creator was coming, and they all want to get a chance to see Automan's Creator…" He paused for dramatic effect. "you."

"Me?"

Zakzon shrugged and said, "It's not every day that one of the Creators comes into our world."

As they got closer, Wally could hear the excited and awed murmur of the crowd as they all seemed to stare at him. He looked uneasily at the crowd trying to see through the throng of people for Automan. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, he turned to Zakzon. "I can't see Automan."

Within seconds, a path to Automan was created. Wally saw Auto lying on his back on the "ground" of the digital world semi-conscious and moaning in pain. There appeared to be open sores all over his arms, torso, and legs. The color of his body, which was usually bright with energy, was faded.

"Auto!" exclaimed Wally alarmed. He completely forgot about the crowd as he dashed the rest of the way to Auto's position and slid to his knees beside Automan.

Automan weakly turned to look at Walter before asking in a strained, pain-filled voice, "Wal...ter?" As far as Automan remembered, he was still in the digital world. How did Walter get here?

"Hang on, Auto," said Wally, worriedly. He could see agony reflected in Automan's eyes. The crowd grew quiet as he took the scanner out of the bag resting across his neck and left shoulder and ran it over Automan quickly locating the virus within Auto's chest. "Oh, my God. No," muttered Wally alarmed. The virus had become intertwined with Auto's system, which explained why it had been nearly impossible for Wally to originally find the virus. Extracting it was going to be excruciating for Auto and highly dangerous in terms of possibly killing him. Wally pressed the button on the side of his comwatch and said into it, "Terri, we've found Automan. I've located the virus and am about to extract it, but Auto is extremely weak and the virus has become entwined with his system. My actions are going to further disrupt his code even more. You will have to fight to stabilize his program."

"All right, Wally," replied Terri. "I'll do my best."

Wally took out what he had dubbed "the extractor", the energy rods Terri had given him, and the virus container from the bag. He put the virus container beside him a short distance away from Automan. Shield or no shield, he wasn't going to cause Auto any more pain than he had to. He turned back to Auto worried that his next actions would not only severely harm his friend, but may kill him. "I am so sorry, Auto," apologized Wally lamenting his next move. Wally saw Auto's barely perceptible acknowledgement of his statement. Wally quickly prayed he wouldn't kill Auto while he was trying to save him before reaching into one of the sores on Auto's chest with the extractor quickly clamping down on the virus forcing it to release from Automan's system.

Automan's body instantly stiffened as he screamed in excruciating pain before going limp a second later.

"Automan!" exclaimed both Zakzon and Cursor, alarmed. The same sentiment went through the crowd surrounding them.

Trying his best to ignore the crowd around them, Wally quickly withdrew the extractor holding what looked like a squirming slug without antennae. He swiftly put the "creature" within the containment device he'd brought with him before depositing the extractor back into the bag. Wally looked back to Auto to find Auto lying unmoving on the "ground" next to him with his eyes closed. "Auto," he quietly said with trepidation praying Automan was simply "unconscious" having only passed out from the pain not dead.

"Terri, how's Auto?" asked Wally into his comwatch afraid that he had killed or permanently injured his friend. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had.

"I managed to stabilize his program," reassured Terri, her voice a bit anxious as well from her fight to stabilize Automan's program. "but I don't know how much of his code I'll be able to correct from this end."

"Okay," replied Wally with immense relief. He looked to Zakzon and reassured him, "Automan's only unconscious. He just passed out from the pain." He heard Zakzon and Cursor sigh in relief before Zakzon turned to the crowd relaying the news. He heard relieved sighs throughout the crowd. He sighed himself. He hadn't killed Auto, but Auto was far from healed. He scooped up the virus container and put it back in the bag. Remembering the second comwatch, Wally dug it out of the bag and put it on Automan's left wrist.

"What's that?" asked Zakzon referring to the comwatch Wally had just put on Auto's wrist. The same hushed question was running through many of the programs that were close by that could see Walter put the watch on Automan's wrist.

"Since Automan needs energy to survive," explained Wally. "this device will allow Terri to closely monitor Auto's energy level. She'll be able to warn me if his energy level gets too low."

Zakzon nodded in understanding. He relayed the information into the crowd.

"Wally, the other comwatch just went online. I assume you've put it on Automan, then?" asked Terri over both comwatches, her voice filled with some concern.

"Yes, I just did," replied Wally. "What is it?" he asked a second later when recognized the concern in her voice.

"It's reading his energy level as dangerously low," said Terri, her concern revealed.

"O.K., Terri. I'll see what I can do from this end," Wally said into his own comwatch to Terri. He put his hand over the sore he had extracted the virus from on Auto's chest wishing there was some way he could help heal Automan's wounds.

A gasp of awe suddenly erupted from the nearby onlookers when they saw energy flow from Wally's hand into Auto's chest instantly healing the wound.

'What just happened?' wondered Wally. He stared in disbelief at his hand, which now glowed like a lantern. To find out if his senses were deceiving him, he placed his hand over a wound on Auto's shoulder.

Energy again radiated from his hand into Automan's body instantly healing the wound. Wally could hear the murmured question, "How did he do that?"

Wally gazed stunned at his sparkling hand. The sight of his hand reminded him of how Auto's hand usually looked. '**How **_did _I do that?' he thought in bewilderment himself.

"Wally, more of Automan's code is simultaneously being repaired while I'm correcting different codes," said Terri with confusion over the communicator. "I'm also detecting a slight drop in your energy level and a slight rise in his."

"I think **I'm **somehow responsible," replied Wally into the communicator with wonder in his voice. His human origin, he concluded, gave him additional abilities in the System. "Somehow, I can intuitively transfer some of the energy from **my **body directly into Automan's correcting the damage done to Auto's system from **within **the computer healing Auto." In the background Wally could hear Zakzon relaying the information to the crowd.

"Well, you better be careful. You could dangerously deplete your own energy if you transfer too much power," warned Terri.

"All right. I'm fine so far," replied Wally. "Since what I'm doing **is **helping Auto, I'm going to continue. Warn me if my energy levels get too low."

"Okay."

Between Wally's efforts in the Digital World and Terri's efforts in the Other World, Automan was healed more and more. The open sores on Automan's body slowly disappeared, and his body became more and more vibrant. Walter heard many in the crowd closest to his position whisper, "It's working." A sense of excited fascination went through the crowd as word spread.

After some time, Terri informed Wally, "Wally, 95 of Automan's code has been corrected." After a few moments, Terri warned, "You're energy level is also getting dangerously low. You'd better rest."

Although Walter did feel tired, he said into the communicator, "I'll be okay, Terri. Automan's programming should be able to self-correct the remaining damaged code, but I'm really worried. Auto should have woken up by now, but he hasn't. I'm going to transfer just enough energy to bring the percentage up to 98. That way Auto's programming will have less code to correct expending less energy. After I've done the transfer, I want to observe him for a while--without transferring any energy--until he does he wake up." Wally could see the improvement in Automan's body, but he was still apprehensive about Auto's condition. Auto was still unconscious.

Wally initiated the energy transfer; a process he could only partially control and barely understood. "O.K., Wally. 98 of Automan's code has been corrected," Wally heard Terri say over his comwatch a couple seconds later. Concentrating, Wally was able to stop the energy transfer. He felt too drained to risk transferring any more energy into Auto's system. Automan would have to come around on his own now without any more help from Wally. 'Come on, Auto,' silently implored Wally, concerned. 'Wake up.'

A short while later, Automan's eyes blinked open.

A cheer went up in the crowd and shouts of "He's awake!" and "Automan's Creator did it!" could be heard.

Auto slowly raised his head woozily looking around for a second and quickly realized he was still in the digital world. He saw a crowd of his many friends still circled around him. He focused on the people immediately surrounding him. He first recognized Cursor, then one of his best friends, Zakzon, and finally, most surprisingly, Walter. "Walter? How did you get here?" he weakly asked, confused.

"It's a long story, Auto. I'll tell you about it later. How are you feeling?" asked Wally, concerned.

"Completely drained." The last thing Automan could recollect was screaming at the excruciating pain he felt in his chest just before passing out. He realized the pain he had previously felt in his chest, stomach, arms, and legs was gone and briefly looked down to his body to find that although his body was still weak and depleted, it was whole. There were no more open sores on his body. He looked back up to Walter and weakly asked, "What happened?"

"You were infected by a nasty virus. I managed to remove the virus from your system and have contained it so it's no longer a threat to you or anyone else. Between the efforts of Terri and myself ... "

"Terri **Fuentes**?" broke in Automan, even more confused.

"Yes. I'll explain later. I promise. She corrected the damage done to your system by the virus by correcting the degraded commands from my world while I found I was able to transfer energy directly from my body into yours and instantaneously heal/correct some of your coding from here." He paused as he glanced around himself at all of the amazing buildings he could see over the crowd around him before adding with a small grin, "Wherever 'here' is." Wally paused to let the information sink in.

Automan lay there absorbing what Walter had just recently told him. A look of sudden concern came into his eyes and he looked to Walter and asked, "You were able to transfer energy directly from your body into mine?"

"Yes," confirmed Wally. He grinned before adding, "and don't ask me to explain **how **I was able to do **that**. I can't tell you. I'm still trying to figure that one out myself."

The concerned look still hadn't left Automan's face. He said with some worry, "Walter, while in my world, your body **requires **that energy to 'survive'." He paused before apprehensively adding, "You could have--and may still have--seriously depleted your own energy." He paused again before stating with some distress, "Walter, you could have killed yourself trying to help me."

Wally shrugged and said, "Auto, it was a risk I was more than willing to take to help you. And if I had to do it again, I would still take that risk." He paused and looked down to his hands which were gently resting on his knees unable to look Auto in the eye. With electronic tears brimming in his eyes at how incredibly close he had come to losing Automan forever, Wally quietly admitted, "I couldn't lose you." He cautiously looked into Auto's mesmerizing blue eyes and gave Auto a small grin before saying, "Besides, I know you would do--and have done--the same for me." He saw Auto gently rest his left hand on top of his right hand. He looked to Auto's face to see Automan giving him a small smile of reassurance at his acceptance of Walter's decision and his gratitude. Wally smiled back at Auto and said, trying to change the subject and lighten the mood a little, "Terri and I are going to backtrack the source of the virus from it's code. Once we've backtracked the code, we'll destroy the virus."

"I would like to help you backtrack the code," said Auto shakily sitting up.

Wally noticed how weak Auto still looked and said, "Are you sure you're up to it, Auto? It took a lot of energy to heal your wounds. Maybe you should rest a while." Fighting his own fatigue to make sure Automan would be alright and make sure Auto recharged, Wally continued while trying to keep the weariness from showing on his face or in his voice, "You admitted yourself that you felt drained. After you've had a chance to recharge, we can find who did this to you."

Auto admitted he did feel drained, laid back down, and closed his eyes.

Zakzon, who had been keeping the multitude of programs from crowding around Walter and Automan, looked back to see Automan once again lying with his eyes closed. Fearing that Automan had somehow relapsed into unconscious, he yelled out, "Automan!"

Auto opened his eyes startled.

Wally put a reassuring hand on Auto's shoulder--without transferring any energy--and gently told him, "It's okay, Auto. Relax." Wally turned to Zakzon and told him that Automan was just sleeping/recharging and he would be fine.

Auto relaxed and fell asleep/recharged.

No longer able to fight his overpowering fatigue, Wally suddenly swayed as he was swiftly overcome with sheer exhaustion before collapsing beside Automan unconscious.

"Walter!" exclaimed Zakzon and Cursor simultaneously. A shocked, concerned reaction went through the crowd as well.

Automan immediately awoke at Zakzon's and Cursor's sudden exclamations. He followed Zakzon's gaze to find Cursor hovering next to Walter, who was lying on the "ground" next to him unconscious. He quickly, albeit a bit unsteadily, sat up and carefully passed his hand over Walter scanning Walter. He let out a brief sigh of relief. "Walter will be all right," reassured Auto to not only Zakzon and Cursor, but to all of his surrounding friends. He was touched by their concern for Walter. "He just collapsed from exhaustion and is currently sleeping/recharging. He must have transferred too much energy dangerously depleting his own energy supply."

Relieved that nothing was seriously wrong with Walter and seeing the tired look on Automan's face, Zakzon recommended, "I suggest getting some rest yourself. Cursor and I can watch over Walter. We will wake you if anything problematic happens."

Automan nodded and laid back down moving closer to Walter--almost as if he were protecting Walter. He closed his eyes quickly falling asleep/recharging.

Zakzon quickly reassured Automan's many friends that Walter and Automan were both just recharging and would be all right. The crowd quietly started to disperse. Zakzon sat down near Automan and Walter, starting his unwavering vigil over Automan and Walter, knowing both Automan and Walter wouldn't wake up for quite a few microcycles. Both of their energy levels had run dangerously low. He couldn't help noticing how close Automan had laid next to Walter--almost as if he were subconsciously guarding Walter from any harm.

Through his brief interaction with Walter, Zakzon had started to consider Walter a friend.

He was beginning to understand why Automan was so protective of Walter. Thinking of Walter brought a question to Zakzon's mind. He turned to Cursor, "Cursor, why does Walter call Automan 'Auto'?"

"It is Walter's nickname for Automan," replied Cursor. "Since Automan responds to the name, it sort of stuck. Automan has used the nickname to his advantage in Walter's world."

"Oh? How?"

"In Walter's world, he goes by the name 'Otto J. Mann'."

"'Otto Mann'; 'Automan'. A simple yet ingenious way of keeping his true nature a secret," replied Zakzon with admiration. He also saw how Automan was almost a reflection of Walter in some ways and began to understand why Automan was always willing to risk his life in Walter's world to save Walter. After seeing Walter's obvious concern for Automan and his willingness to risk his own life by transferring energy directly from his body into Automan's, Zakzon almost envied the close relationship Automan had with his Creator. He wondered if he would ever have that close a relationship with his Creator--probably not.

Quite a bit later, Walter woke up realizing Automan was already awake and standing. He glanced around realizing that the crowd of other programs was gone as well before he unsteadily got to his feet.

Automan saw Walter get unsteadily to his feet and quickly went to Walter's position. He placed his hands on Walter's shoulders steadying him. "Thank you, Walter," said Auto, with a thankful smile.

Wally could see the immense gratitude in Automan's eyes. He could also sense himself becoming stronger as well. After Auto released Wally, Wally realized that Auto had transferred some of his energy back to Wally. Wally just nodded and gave Auto a grateful smile of his own. He was elated Auto was going to be okay.

"Wally, I just picked up a small energy drop in Automan's system and a small energy spike in your system," informed Terri over the comwatches with some concern.

"It's okay, Terri," reassured Wally to her over his comwatch. "Auto and I are fine. Auto's

just . . . returning the favor." Auto smiled reassuringly.

"Welcome to **my **world, Walter," said Auto, smiling.

"Thanks, Auto, but I can't stay," responded Wally with regret in his voice as he briefly glanced around himself at all the amazing sights around him. He would have liked to have seen more of this mysterious, wondrous place. "I need to get back to my world. Neither of us are safe as long as Tilson is still free to attack us again."

Automan nodded in understanding before saying with some regret himself, "You're right, Walter. We have to stop Tilson before he strikes again." Auto would have liked to have shown Walter around, but he knew Walter was right. Once Tilson realized he had failed to kill him and Walter, Tilson would invariably try to get rid of them again. "Let me guide you to the entry point."

Wally silently nodded. He again glanced around before looking at Auto and asking, "Uh, Auto, what happened to the other…" He paused as he tried to figure out the best phrase to use to describe the various programs he had seen surrounding them before continuing, "programs that had been here?"

"Since you were both going to be okay and were just recharging, they left," replied Zakzon instead.

"They left?" asked Wally, confused.

"In my world," explained Automan. "recharging is very similar to when you sleep, Walter. They did not want to disturb us."

"Oh," replied Wally not totally understanding but not really wanting to explore the topic further. Not having been originally from the digital world, Wally let Auto lead the way. He was just glad Auto **was **able to be up and about.

Wally couldn't help but gaze around him as he followed Auto, Cursor, and Zakzon back to his entry point trying to take in as many of the wonderful sights of Automan's amazing world as he could not sure if he'd ever be back to this wondrous place again. He also noticed that Automan never seemed to stray very far from his side even when Auto was leading them to the building Wally had originally arrived in.

Automan glanced at Walter every so often as they all walked back to the entry port. He smiled as he watched Walter stare around himself trying to take in as many sights as he could before he left with eyes as wide as a child's.

After a short while into their walk as they got closer to the entry point, Automan kept a wary eye out for anything that might possibly pose some kind of danger to Walter as they got closer to the building Walter had arrived in. He wanted Walter's brief visit to his world to be as pleasant as possible. He glanced to Walter with some anxiety. Walter had strayed from his side as Walter stared around at the various sights. "Walter," Automan called out with some worry.

Wally stopped walking but continued to gaze around him at the gorgeous sights around him as he distractedly replied, "Yeah, Auto?"

"_This _way," gently chided Automan with an amused smile when he saw Walter turn to look at him with an embarrassed grin when he realized he had strayed from the group.

Wally walked back to the group with an embarrassed grin. He looked up at Auto and mumbled, "Sorry."

Automan smiled and said, "It's okay. Just stay near me. I don't want you getting hurt or lost. Okay?"

"OK," replied Wally chagrined. He smiled before saying as he again looked around in awe at the sights, "Your world's just so . . . amazing."

Auto's smile grew wider and he replied, "Thank you, Walter." He paused before saying, "Come on. We're almost there."

Wally nodded and followed Auto, Cursor, and Zakzon. He made sure to stay near Auto as he continued to take in as many of the beautiful sights of Auto's world as he could.

Before long, they had reached the same enormous building Wally had initially appeared in. Auto turned to Wally and said, "We're here." He held up his left wrist with the comwatch on it and said, "I won't be needing this anymore." He carefully removed the comwatch and handed it to Walter.

"Wally, Automan's comwatch just went offline!" exclaimed Terri over Wally's comwatch, alarmed. "Is he alright?" she asked, worried.

"Yes, Terri," reassured Wally into his own comwatch. "Auto's fine. He just took off his comwatch. He says he won't be needing it anymore." Wally put the comwatch in the cloth bag.

"All right. Almost ready to come back?"

"Almost. Just give me a minute," replied Wally. Wally stepped towards Zakzon knowing this would probably be the last time he would ever see Zakzon. "Thank you. Without yours and Cursor's help, I never would have found Automan in time. Thank you." He shook hands with Zakzon when words became inadequate to express the gratitude he felt towards Zakzon for his help in finding Auto in time.

"You're welcome," replied Zakzon. He was glad Automan was cured and felt fortunate to have gotten to know--albeit briefly--Automan's Creator, Walter Nebicher. "You better get going, though. Automan's right. You two have to stop Tilson before he can harm either of you again."

Wally nodded and stepped away from Auto, Cursor, and Zakzon. He said into his comwatch, "O.K., Terri. I'm ready." A brilliant beam of coherent light enfolded Wally. For a moment, Wally's appearance wavered, like that of a poorly received television picture. Then he was gone.


	10. Meeting Of the Minds

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 10--Meeting Of the Minds

The laser array hummed, issuing a line of coherent light. It flashed at an exact range, precisely decoding the structure of Walter's body.

Right after Walter was reintegrated back into his world, he quickly yet carefully took the cloth bag from across his neck and left shoulder and cautiously placed it on the nearest table he could find. He ran to Terri's position overjoyed. She stood and backed away from the computer as he came nearer. He wrapped her in a hug briefly picking her up and swinging her around before putting her down. "We did it, Terri! Auto's O.K.! We did it!"

Caught up in his exaltation, she found herself beaming with joy as well.

He backed away a short distance from her with his hands still gently resting on her shoulders. Even though he had a slightly embarrassed look on his face at his recent display of emotions, he was still beaming from ear to ear despite his embarrassment. "Thank you! If it hadn't been for your help in combating this virus, I'd have lost Automan forever. Not something I care to contemplate. Thank you!" He pulled her into a brief hug before quickly letting go. "Can I use your computer? I need to program an anti-virus routine into Automan's program. I won't allow whoever did this to Auto to infect him again."

"Sure." She moved out of the way so he could access her computer.

Wally sat at Terri's computer and quickly brought up Automan's programming code on the screen. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he quickly created a complex anti-virus subroutine to protect Auto from any more viral attacks. He rapidly finished and exited Auto's program saving the changes he'd made. 'Let's see Tilson try to get past that,' thought Wally proudly.

Wally turned to Terri. "I once mentioned to Automan about how you had helped me create his program while we were still in college. He said he wanted to meet you." He quietly chuckled before continuing, "I believe his exact words were: 'I must meet her.' I'd like to call him up and formally introduce you two, but I have to request something of you first. Something you may not agree with."

"Okay," replied Terri uncertainly. "What's this request you have?"

"You can't tell your brother, Chico, about who or what Automan really is."

"But, why, Wally?"

"Chico knows Auto as 'Federal Agent Mann.' I don't think the Renegades would look too kindly on the fact that they were lead for a brief time by a hologram instead of a federal agent, so, **please**, Terri, don't tell Chico. Just refer to Automan as Agent Mann around him. **Please**."

"O.K.," agreed Terri reluctantly. She hated having to keep things from her brother. "I won't tell Chico."

"Thank you," said Wally with relief. He turned back to the computer and typed 'Automan'. The phrase 'Enter access code:' appeared underneath. He typed 'crimefighter'. The phrase 'Access being verified. Please wait . . ." appeared underneath. A few seconds later, the words 'Access verified.' appeared underneath and a sudden rumbling could be heard and felt as if an earthquake were happening in the lab. The lights around them flashed and dimmed.

A ball of light burst forth from the monitor. Cursor hovered for a second in front of Wally, beeped, and went to an open area behind Terri and Wally performing a quick spiral before going towards Terri.

"Hi, Cursor," greeted Wally.

Terri backed towards Wally unsure what Cursor's intentions were. "Wally? What is Cursor doing?"

"Being a bit too friendly," admonished Wally with disapproval in his voice. Wally's gaze was fixed on the area Cursor had created the spiral knowing Automan would soon appear there.

Seconds later, a tall, shimmering silhouette of a man formed in the area. After Automan fully materialized, he turned penetrating blue eyes to Walter and Terri.

Terri stared speechless at the shimmering man standing in her lab. A dazzling white aura radiated from him. He had to be six foot four--if not taller! Startling enough, his head and face looked "human," but the rest of his body was a whole _other _story. He seemed to be clad in the most amazing, shining blue grid-like armor through which a galaxy of stars as bright as lasers shone. 'So **this** is Automan,' she thought with fascination and unease.

Then, she heard his beautifully modulated baritone voice as he said, "Hello, Walter." Automan paused for a second before grinning and adding, "Long time no see."

"Hi, Auto," greeted Wally in return. He grinned back at Auto and replied, "Yeah." He paused before stating, "Auto, there's someone I want to introduce you to. Someone I know you've been wanting to meet." He gestured towards Terri and said, "Auto, this is Teresa Fuentes." He turned to Terri and said, "Terri, this is Automan."

"Hello, Miss Fuentes," greeted Automan warmly. He stepped closer to Terri with his sparkling hand outstretched. Terri backed further towards Wally unsure what would happen to her if she shook Automan's hand. Automan stopped lowering his hand with a confused and disappointed frown.

Wally instantly noticed Terri's uneasiness and hesitation and Auto's confusion and disappointment and quickly stepped up behind Terri gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay, Terri," reassured Wally. "Auto won't hurt you. He just wants to shake your hand." Over her shoulder, Wally gave Auto a pleading look that silently begged Auto **not** to shock her like he usually does Jack. He saw Auto's barely perceptible nod. Wally every so gently urged Terri towards Auto. "It's okay," he reassured her a second time at seeing her hesitate a second time before letting go of Terri's shoulders.

Terri cautiously came close enough to Automan to shake hands with him and tentatively extended her hand saying, "Hello, Automan."

Automan gently took her hand in his and lightly kissed the back of her hand before releasing her hand. "It is very nice to finally meet you, Miss Fuentes."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Automan," said Terri a little uneasily.

"Walter's told me how you helped him create my program while in college." Auto gave Walter a slightly amused grin before turning back to Terri. "In fact according to Walter, if it weren't for you, I might not exist."

Terri looked to Wally surprised that he had given her such credit for helping to create Automan. Wally gave her a self-conscious grin in reply.

Terri turned back to Automan studying his appearance. A look of sudden confusion came over her face and she turned to Wally. "How could my brother have"--she quickly turned back to Automan and apologized, "Sorry." before turning back to Wally--"have thought **he **was a federal agent?"

"Auto can sometimes wear disguises," explained Wally simply.

"Disguises?" asked Terri even more confused.

"Yeah." Wally turned to Automan. "Show her, Auto."

Automan nodded and commanded, "Cursor." Cursor instantly rezzed up a white shirt, black tie, black pants, and black business jacket over Auto's body. After the clothing materialized, Auto turned to Terri gauging her reaction. Within moments, "Federal Agent Mann" stood in front of them.

Terri's eyes were wide--not with fear but with awe and fascination. She could sense her fear of Automan melting away as it was slowly replaced with fascination. She tentatively took a couple of steps closer to Automan. She didn't want to startle him or somehow scare him into disappearing--not that she really believed she would startle or scare him into disappearing, but curiosity had the better of her. She wanted to know how his clothing felt. She tentatively reached out her hand towards his suit. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly withdrew her hand and looked up into his mesmerizing blue eyes asking, "May I?"

Auto nodded and said, "Go ahead." He had already guessed as to what she wanted to do. He stood still so as not to startle her.

Terri again reached out her hand towards Automan's suit. She lightly ran her fingers along the left lapel of Automan's suit. It felt real! She looked up into Automan's face. "Unbelievable! I-it feels real," she said with awe. "But, how?"

Automan smiled sensing that her fear of him was dissolving. He explained, "I can alter the electromagnetic field of my body."

"Alter the electromagnetic field of your body?" asked Terri confused. She found herself warming to him quickly.

"Yes, make my body feel 'real'."

"Oh," said Terri finally understanding.

"I also understand you were instrumental in helping Walter combat the virus that had infected my program," said Auto. "Thank you," he said with a grateful smile.

Terri blushed in response before saying, "You're welcome. When I realized how much you meant to Wally, I had to help."

Automan turned to Walter with a confused and slightly expectant look. "Walter, how **did **you get into my world?"

"I think I can answer that," replied Terri instead.

Auto turned to her curiously.

"Using the lasers I have in the lab here"--said Terri pointing to the two intact lasers--"I was able to digitize Wally and sent him into his computer to help combat the virus from inside the computer."

"How were you able to identify the virus, safely extract it from my system, and contain it?" asked Auto still confused.

"I think I can answer that as well," replied Terri. She went to the table with the cloth bag Wally had brought with him into the digital world sitting on it and took out the scanner, the energy rods, and the virus container placing them on a table near Automan so he could look at them more closely. She held up the scanner first. "I had an idea of what the virus looked like based on the description Wally said of how the virus interacted with your program and programmed this portable scanner to help him identify the virus." She replaced the scanner and held up the energy rods. "Using these energy rods I scavenged from the dismantled laser,"--she pointed to the one dismantled laser--"he was able to safely extract the virus from your system without the virus reattaching to you or attaching to him." She placed the energy rods back on the table and finally held up the virus container. "With a suggestion from Wally, I was able to create this container to safely contain the virus." She replaced the virus container back on the table.

Automan looked at Terri with renewed admiration. "Well, then, your help really **was **invaluable in combating the virus." He gave her a sincere, indebted smile before again saying, "Thank you."

Terri again blushed, her face turning a bright pink. "I'm just glad I was able to help."

Wally smiled at the exchange between Terri and Automan before approaching both their positions. Although their encounter had gotten off to a shaky start, he was glad Terri was finally getting over her fear of Auto. He almost regretted having to cut their pleasant meeting short but decided to save Terri from any more awkwardness. He cleared his throat to get their attention. Both Auto and Terri turned to him. "Hate to cut this introduction short, but we really need to get started backtracking the code of that virus."

Auto nodded.

"O.K., Wally," replied Terri. She picked up the virus container from the table near Automan and brought it back with her to the computer quickly hooking up the device to the computer. She downloaded the virus into a confined memory and brought the coding for the virus up on the screen. When she turned back to Wally and Automan, she saw that they had come closer to her position and were standing on either side of her seat studying the virus code on the screen.

Wally examined the coding on the screen. Something about the way the virus was programmed seemed somehow familiar to him. He couldn't quite figure out why at first the coding seemed recognizable. When he thought back to the recent tampering done to the LAPD computer remembering the coding telling the computer to ignore any malfunctions from the console and report it as working fine, it hit him. The structure and syntax of the commands were very, very similar. It was the same "programmer's signature" as the commands for the LAPD computer.

Automan was also studying the code on the screen. The coding seemed familiar to him as well. After studying the programming for a second, he realized why the set of instructions seemed so recognizable. The commands also included codes for the computer not to divulge the source of the extra programming. The same kind of commands were given to the municipal computers when they had been sabotaged a year ago.

Wally and Automan turned towards each other having reached the same conclusion. "Tilson," they said simultaneously.

Wally turned to Terri. "Terri, where's your phone?"

"There." Terri pointed to a corner where a touch-tone phone hung on the wall wondering what exactly Wally had in mind.

Wally went to the phone and quickly dialed the LAPD main number. After a few seconds, he said into the receiver, "Hi. This is Officer Nebicher. I need to be transferred to the forensics lab." A short pause. "Thank you." After a few seconds passed, Wally said into the phone, "Hi. Brian? It's Walter Nebicher."

"Hi, Wally. What can I help you with?"

"Did you ever get the results back from those fragments of the exploded computer console I sent down a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah, just got them in a few minutes ago. Besides, obviously your fingerprints, there **was **another set of fingerprints on them. We're running a check on them right now."

"Great, Brian. Could you run them against the name Ronald L. Tilson? I have a hunch you'll come up with a perfect match. Could you get back to me with the results?"

"Sure. Where can I reach you?"

"Thanks." Wally quickly turned to Terri putting his hand over the receiver and quietly asked her, "What's the number for your lab here?"

"555-1236," replied Terri just as softly.

Wally silently nodded his thanks to her before saying into the receiver, "You can reach me at: 555-1236. Thanks, Brian." He hung up the phone and walked back to his original position in front of the computer monitor again studying the coding on the screen. He saw Automan again studying the code on the screen as well. Their conviction that Tilson was behind the tampering of the LAPD computer and infecting Automan grew with each minute.

Ten minutes later, the phone in the lab rang. Terri answered it saying, "Nextgen Laser Labs. Dr. Fuentes speaking." After a brief pause, she turned to where Wally and Automan were studying the computer screen saying, "It's for you, Wally."

Wally went towards her and took the phone from her outstretched hand. He said into the receiver, "Nebicher here."

"Wally, it's Brian. I got those results you wanted. You were right. The prints did belong to a Ronald Tilson."

"Thanks, Brian. That solves a lot of questions." Wally hung up the phone turning to Terri and Auto with a victorious smile. "That was the forensics lab at the LAPD. They just got back the lab results on the fragments I sent to the lab for fingerprint analysis. Tilson's fingerprints were on the fragments. He's behind the tampering with the LAPD computer. I'm fairly certain that's how he was able to gain access to your program as well, Auto."

"O.K. You know who's behind it, but how are you going to stop him?" asked Terri. After having met and gotten to know Automan, Terri didn't want to see this Tilson person harm either Wally or Automan.

"Good question," said Wally with some frustration. He had an inkling of any idea but needed to flesh out his idea first.

Terri interrupted Wally's ruminations saying, "Wally, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home. It's been a **most **remarkable day."

Wally nodded to her.

Terri turned to Automan. "It was nice to meet you, Automan."

"It was nice meeting you, Ms. Fuentes," replied Auto. "Since you two are leaving, I'll take my leave as well." Automan nodded his farewell to both Walter and Terri before disappearing.

"He really is amazing," said Terri with awe in her voice.

"Yeah," said Wally nodding. He motioned for her to lead the way out of the lab back to the parking lot. While they were walking, Wally kept contemplating how to lure Tilson out into the open.

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Had a bit of a technical prob--as in the disk didn't want to read! Hope you've enjoyed the story so far. And keep those reviews coming :)


	11. Premature Celebration

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 11--Premature Celebration

After Wally had taken Terri back to her apartment, he headed for his own apartment. He was glad he didn't have to work today, although there was always the possibility of him being called in. (Being LAPD's only computer expert really had its disadvantages at times.) He was worn out from being up for almost 24 hours straight trying to combat that virus--not counting however long he had been "recharging" while in Auto's world--and was looking forward to getting to bed.

Reflecting on his victory over the virus brought a triumphant smile to his face. He and Terri had did it! Auto was cured! As he pulled into his usual parking spot, he deemed his recent victory a call for celebration. Maybe he'd ask Roxanne out on a date--if she wasn't too swamped at work. But much later. He really wanted to get some sleep first.

Later that evening, Wally called Roxanne at work knowing her shift was almost over. He heard her answer the phone, "LAPD. Officer Caldwell."

"Hi, love," he replied. He smiled upon hearing her voice. The same sweet voice he'd woken up to in the hospital one month ago.

"Hi, Wally," she said pleasantly surprised. "Is anything wrong?" she asked a bit concerned. He usually didn't call her at work unless it was work related.

"Oh, no. Everything's fine. Now." Roxanne could hear the happiness in his voice. "I just feel like celebrating. Want to go to the movies and then for a bite to eat tonight?"

"Celebrating?" asked Roxanne confused. She was taken aback by his straightforwardness. Something had him in a good mood.

"Yeah, I've just had some major developments in the case."

"Speaking of the case, how's you-know-who?" She slightly surprised herself that she was so concerned about Automan.

"Great! In fact, he's part of the reason I want to celebrate. I was able to defeat the virus Tilson had infected him with. He's back to his 'normal' self again."

"That's great, Wally!" Then, she remembered he had said something about 'developments in the case'. "What developments in the case?"

"How about I tell you over dinner right after a movie? What do you say, love?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied intrigued. "but could you pick me up at my apartment? I want to go home first and change out of my work clothes and into something a bit more casual."

"Okay. About what time?"

Roxanne looked at the clock on the wall. It said 5:50. Her shift ended at 6:00. "Pick me up at 7:30?"

"Sure. See you then." Wally hung up the phone. He took a quick shower, shaved and went to the closet in his bedroom pulling out a white striped shirt and black slacks. He got dressed all the while debating on which movie to take her to and where to go to eat. He didn't want to take her to a horror, gory movie. She may not want to eat after seeing one of those. He also didn't want to take her to a sappy, romantic movie. He wasn't really into those type of movies. He decided to take her to some action/adventure movie. He opted to take her to a steak house not too far from the movie theater they liked going to. He called the restaurant and quickly made a reservation for two under his name.

He, then, figured they'd head to his place for some champagne the captain had given him for the Innes case he solved over a year ago. She liked going to his place. Satisfied with his plans for the night, he looked at the clock. It said 7:15. If he left now, he'd be able to get to her place in time. He grabbed his jacket and car keys heading out of the apartment.

Fifteen minutes later, Wally pulled up to Roxanne's apartment complex. He got out of the car and walked towards the front door. She was coming out of the front door to meet him. He stopped and stared at her entranced taking in her exquisite appearance as she approached him. Her beautiful blond hair was pinned up accentuating her lovely face. Make up lightly adorned her face nicely bringing out her natural beauty. She smiled at him as she came closer. He took a deep breath inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume wafting towards him as she came nearer. She was wearing her gray jacket, a simple blue pull-over blouse with fringe along the collar with a low neckline exposing her neck and white slacks that perfectly highlighted her curves nicely.

When she reached him, she put her arms around his neck and gave him a quick, yet passionate, kiss on the lips pressing him to her. Surprised at first, he accepted, then savored it. When she released him, he was a little breathless. "Nice to see you, too," he panted with a pleased smile. "You look beautiful," he said softly.

Her cheeks flushed as she smiled and slipped her arm around his bicep leading him back to his car. They got into the car, and he drove them to their favorite movie theater. The parking lot was pretty full and finding a place to park proved to be a challenge for Wally. He finally found a spot further away from the door than he would have liked but silently shrugged it off. It would give him a chance to hold her close to him while they walked to the entrance. He quickly parked, and they both got out. He came around to her side. Her left hand immediately slid into his right hand as they walked to the entrance together. He paid for the tickets and got them a soda and some popcorn to share. They quickly found a seat in the designated theater.

He was glad he had chosen the type of movie he had. Roxanne had sat on his right side and he had his right arm across her shoulders. Whenever Roxanne got scared, she would cuddle closer to him. She would also nestle closer to him during any emotional scenes as well.

Two and a half hours later, they were walking back to his car. Wally had his left arm across her shoulders and she had her right arm around his waist with her head gently resting on his left shoulder. She was a bit drained from work but was enjoying the rare night alone with Wally. His busy and sometimes unpredictable schedule left very few chances for them to spend time alone together. She was enjoying being this close to him without their whole attention being consumed over a case for once. When they reached the car, he opened the door for her. She climbed in. He closed the door, headed for the driver's side and got in. He drove them to a steakhouse not that far from the theatre.

Roxanne recognized the restaurant as one they had been to once or twice before. She remembered the food being very good and silently approved of Wally's choice. He pulled into the parking lot quickly finding a place to park. They got out of the car and headed for the entrance hand-in-hand. They walked up to the maitre'd, and Wally said, "Reservation for two for 'Walter Nebicher'." The maitre'd looked at the list and found Wally's name. He guided them to a table.

After they sat down, a waiter came over and took their order. Roxanne ordered a merlot and Wally ordered a Chivas. The drinks arrived quickly and they sat in silence for a while. Roxanne twirled the stem of her drink lost in thought. She didn't want to talk shop, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Roxanne looked up to him breaking the silence between them. "So, what are these new developments you said you have in the case?"

"I can prove beyond a doubt that Tilson's behind the sabotage and the virus that infected Automan."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just called the forensics lab. They found Tilson's fingerprints on the fragments I sent down two days ago to be tested."

"How would you be able to--" She paused as a waiter came with menus.

Wally ordered the rib-eye and Roxanne ordered the chef salad. The waiter took their menus and disappeared into the swarm of other waiters.

"How would you be able to prove that Tilson's behind infecting Automan?" asked Roxanne again when she was certain they wouldn't be overheard. She felt a bit self-conscious saying Automan's name out in the open, but there wasn't anybody around them close enough to overhear them.

"Auto, a friend, and I were able to study the code and connect the way the virus was programmed back to Tilson's style of programming. Sort of like a 'programmer's signature.'"

"Okay, you can prove Tilson's behind the tampering and infecting Automan, but how are you going to catch him, love? He's not exactly going to just come in to the station and give himself up."

"I'm not sure," replied Wally a little frustrated. That same question had been gnawing at him for some time now.

Seeing his frustration, she let the topic drop for the time being, and they talked about more uplifting topics. Their meal soon arrived and they ate in companionable silence.

When they finished eating, Wally had suggested they go back to his place for some champagne. Roxanne agreed. She enjoyed going to Wally's apartment. It was a 'safe' environment for him and she found she could easily get as close to him as she wanted.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting on Wally's couch in his living room. Soft rock music faintly played in the background. Two half empty shot glasses and Roxanne's purse sat on the coffee table in front on them. He had his right arm draped across the back of the couch. She nestled closer to his right side feeling extremely relaxed and comfortable. She shifted position so she was facing him and kissed him passionately almost with a sudden desire. He leaned into the kiss, all of his senses filling with the smell and feel and taste of her.

She pulled away from him and got up off of the couch. She reached up into her hair pulling out the pin. Her hair came down in a soft cloud of gold. She laid the pin on the coffee table and turned to him extending her hands towards him. He reached out his hands intertwining them with hers and got up as he felt her gently urge him off of the couch. Confused as to what she wanted to do, he obediently followed. Within moments, he realized she was leading him to his bedroom. A smile broke out on his face.

(A/N: for the M-rated version of this chapter, see Crashing-Mature version in bio)

They made love until exhaustion forced them to stop, and even then they couldn't bear to stop touching each other, still holding and stroking and kissing even though they no longer had the strength to go further. Slowly, gradually, they had become still and drifted off in each other's arms, Wally holding her tightly to him as though his life would end if he couldn't feel every inch of her body against his skin.

Roxanne awoke to the dawn light slowly filtering into the room. Her right arm lay partially under his body, partially under his pillow asleep from the weight of his body and head. His left arm was wrapped loosely under her pillow and neck. She lay gazing at his still sleeping face. He looked so innocent and peaceful, his body nestled close to hers. Her legs had become intertwined with his. Her left arm lay over his waist with his right arm resting over her left arm and waist. Still a little spent from the wonderful night before, she fell into a light doze snuggling as close to him as she could without waking him.

Ten minutes later, Wally woke to the increasing daylight slowly lighting his room. A slow, content smile spread over his face as he felt Roxanne's body pressed up against his and he remembered the extraordinary night. He quickly and carefully looked to his alarm clock. It said 5:30 am. He gazed down at her sleeping face. She was so beautiful--a sleeping angel, curled up against him, her head lay resting in the crook of his left shoulder, honey gold hair streaming over his chest, shoulder and arm. Her right arm lay partially under his body, partially under his pillow probably asleep from the weight of his body and head. His left arm was wrapped loosely under her pillow and neck. Her left arm lay over his waist with his right arm resting over her left arm and waist. He leaned down and gently kissed her exposed neck and shoulder. She smiled and let out a contented sigh before opening her gorgeous brown eyes and looked at him. "Good morning," he gently said.

"Good Morning," she replied just as gently. He leaned down and passionately kissed her on the lips as he gently traced his right hand along her spine. She readily returned the kiss subtly arching her back in pleasure. She stroked his back quickly finding the erogenous zone near his lower coccyx and messaged it watching as he groaned with pleasure arching his back.

He made love to her again twice that morning. Despite his fatigue, he still gently kissed her on the mouth, neck and shoulders. Slowly, gradually, they became still again drifting off in each other's arms.

About five hours later, Roxanne awoke with a slight start. 'What time is it?' she wondered. She carefully looked around his room until she spotted his alarm clock. The face read 12:30 pm. They had to get ready for work. Reluctant to get up right away, she lay gazing at his still sleeping face. He looked so innocent and peaceful, his body nestled close to hers. Her legs had again become intertwined with his. Her right arm lay partially under his body, partially under his pillow asleep from the weight of his body and head. His left arm was wrapped loosely under her pillow and neck. Her left arm lay over his waist with his right arm resting over her left arm and waist. She knew now, had known ever since that sudden, blinding moment that was their first kiss, that she was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with him.

She carefully extricated herself from his tender embrace bending down to kiss his forehead very, very gently. She went into his bathroom starting the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Wally woke realizing he no longer felt Roxanne's body next to him. He felt the pillow next to him thinking maybe she had just moved a little further away from him. When he didn't feel her next to him at all, he rolled onto his back listening to the noises in his apartment. He heard the shower running. He got up as he heard the water shut off and saw the door start to open.

Roxanne came back into Wally's room; a burgundy towel wrapped around her body and a blue towel wrapped around her head. Wally came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her towards him feeling her lean against him as he kissed her exposed neck, back, and shoulders enjoying the small moans of pleasure he was eliciting from her before reaching playfully to tug on the towel around her body. She danced out of his reach as she saw him seeking to remove the towel. As he came closer, she sidestepped behind him gently shoving him towards the bathroom door. "Get ready," she tenderly told him with amusement in her voice. "We have to get to work soon and you need to take me home first. I need to change into something more appropriate for work." Knowing he would lose the argument with her, he let her guide him into the bathroom before shutting the door behind him.

Roxanne heard the shower run as she quickly gathered up her clothing from the night before and got dressed. She went into the living room and grabbed her hair clip off of the coffee table. She ran her fingers through her hair trying to tame it into something more presentable before quickly using the pin to put up her hair. She went to his kitchenette and opened up his refrigerator with the intention of cooking them both a quick breakfast while he got dressed. She only saw partially emptied take out containers, soda bottles, and a few beer bottles. She didn't want to chance the take-out having no idea how long he had them in the refrigerator.

Wally came out of the bedroom dressed in a white shirt, his favorite pinstriped black tie, and a light gray business suit jacket over black slacks. He went into the living room looking for Roxanne, but she wasn't there. He ventured into his kitchenette to find her disapprovingly examining the contents of his refrigerator. He came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist pressing her to him. He kissed the exposed part of the back of her neck before saying, "You won't find anything in there."

"Yeah," she replied. "I realize that **now**." She leaned into his embrace before saying, "Why don't I take us both out to eat for breakfast? You can drop me off at my house afterwards."

"Okay." He released her when he felt her gently pull out of his embrace. She walked back into his living room picking up her purse off of the coffee table. He followed her out of the kitchenette, and they walked out of his apartment to his car.

He drove them to a nearby diner he knew served breakfast all day. They quickly ordered and were served rather promptly. They swiftly ate knowing they didn't have much time to get to the precinct.

He drove her to her apartment complex and got out coming around to her side of the car to help her out. He walked her to the entrance of her apartment complex. Before going into the building, she turned to him with worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he noticed her troubled look.

"I was just thinking about the case." She paused before continuing uneasily. "Wally, Tilson's still lurking out there. He'll attack you and Automan the first chance he gets, and I can't stand the thought of him hurting either of you again. You and Automan have had too many close calls already; he nearly succeeded in killing both you and Automan twice now." Her mind flashed back to one month ago. She still had recurring nightmares of seeing Automan carrying Wally, who had been unconscious and suffering from severe hypovolemic shock, out of that old office building and the first time she saw him in the ICU. Her apprehension apparent on her face as she thought of what could have happened to him and might still happen to him if they don't stop Tilson soon. She continued, "We have to find a way to stop Tilson. You two might not be so lucky the next time."

He pulled her into a hug gently stroking her hair when he saw her increasing agitation. "It's okay. We'll get him, love. He won't be free for long," he soothingly said to her. 'Yeah, but how? He's been able to elude us for a whole month now,' he silently added to himself with renewed frustration at not being able to find an answer to that problem yet.

Seeing his frustration, she reached up gently stroking his cheek in an attempt to ease his irritation before giving him a quick kiss. She pulled away and said, "I know. I just hope it's **before **Tilson has a chance to strike again." She took a quick look at her watch. Realizing the time, she said "You'd better get to the station. I'll meet you there." She gave him a quick departing kiss on the lips before saying, "I'm just glad you didn't get seriously hurt from Tilson's recent ruse with the computer console."

Wally watched as she walked into the apartment complex and out of sight. Her last statement sticking in his mind: "get seriously hurt from Tilson's recent ruse with the computer console." 'Instead of trying to track down Tilson, what if we could get him to come to **us**?' thought Wally. 'What if we could somehow play a ruse on Tilson?' As he walked back to the car, an idea started forming in his mind on how to stop Tilson.


	12. Planning A Ruse

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 12--Planning A Ruse

In the LAPD building, Wally quickly walked into the captain's office to find Jack already in the office discussing ways to stop Tilson. Wally walked up to the captain's desk. "Captain, I have an idea on a way to catch Tilson," he said excitedly.

"What idea?" asked the captain.

"What if we could get Tilson to come to **us**?" asked Wally.

"Wally, how are we going to do that?" replied Jack.

"He's not exactly going to just walk in and give himself up," added the captain.

"Well, what if we could somehow convince Tilson that he had succeeded when the computer console exploded?" asked Wally.

"How would that convince Tilson?" asked Jack.

"With the help of one of the doctors at the hospital, I could create a believable patient record of myself in which I **had **been hurt by the computer console and was in a coma in the hospital under guard," said Wally.

Wally's mention of a coma unpleasantly brought back for Jack the time when Wally really **was **in a coma in the hospital. Frankly, he **never **wanted to have to go through that experience again. He got an idea of where Wally was heading with this scheme not liking the direction one bit. "Why would that convince Tilson to come to **us**?" asked Jack.

"We could leak out the incident to a major paper and Tilson would pick up on it. My being in such a vulnerable position?; how could Tilson resist? He'd immediately take the bait and when he tries to sneak into the hospital to attack again, we can arrest him," said Wally.

"Wait. Before you go any further with this idea, we should run this idea past Agent Mann. Tilson's after him as well," said Captain Boyd.

"Right," responded Wally. "I'll go get him." Wally walked out of the captain's office and headed for the computer room. He quickly called up Automan. After Automan materialized, Wally turned to him saying, "Hi, Auto."

"Hello, Walter. You called?" replied Auto.

"Yeah, I need you to come with me to the captain's office. We have an idea to catch Tilson."

"That's great, Walter!" responded Auto, smiling.

"Yeah, well, you better get changed. They thought you ought to hear the idea too, since Tilson's after **both **of us."

Automan nodded and commanded, "Cursor." Cursor appeared and rezzed up a white shirt, black tie, black slacks, and black business suit jacket over Auto's body. After the clothing had fully materialized on Auto's body, he turned to Walter signally he was ready to go.

Wally nodded and walked out of the computer room with Auto--disguised now as Federal Agent Mann--following behind as they both headed to the captain's office. They walked into the captain's office.

"Hello, Captain, Lieutenant," greeted Auto.

"Agent Mann," replied the captain by way of greeting.

"Hello, Agent Mann," said Jack.

"Walter tells me you have a plan to catch Tilson?" asked Auto.

"Actually, it's Wally's idea," said Jack. He turned to Wally. "Why don't you tell him about it, Wally?"

Wally nodded and quickly outlined his idea to Auto.

Auto looked concerned as he comprehended what Walter had in mind. "Essentially, you're going to lure Tilson by using yourself as bait," summed up Auto.

"Basically, yes," replied Wally.

Jack and Auto looked at Wally; the loathing of his plan evident in their eyes. To them, the risk of Tilson seriously injuring Wally for real was **totally **unacceptable. The captain looked like he might actually be contemplating the plan.

The uncomfortable silence that followed was interrupted as Roxanne walked into the captain's office. She paused when she saw Wally standing next to Automan in the captain's office. Wally's and her faces flushed as they made eye contact, each remembering the amazing night before and the wonderful morning after. God, how she wanted him all over again; how she wanted to feel him inside her again. She could see in his eyes the same desire. Roxanne moved to the captain's desk determined to fight her escalating desire. Here and Now was definitely **not **the place for **that**.

Jack had seen Wally's and Roxanne's faces flush as their eyes made contact. '**Something **happened between those two, and it **wasn't **an argument,' thought Jack with a suppressed smile as he watched Wally come closer to Roxanne.

Automan also noticed the flush looks that came into Walter's and Roxanne's faces as they made eye contact. At first, he feared they had somehow become sick suddenly. When he saw Walter come closer to Roxanne inconspicuously, gently placing his right hand on her lower back and her subtly leaning towards Walter, Auto realized they were fine. '**Something **happened between Walter and Roxanne,' thought Automan with a suppressed smile realizing what that something might have been.

Roxanne fixed her eyes on the captain. "Captain, I just received a report from the Sheriff of Long Beach. They've identified the body of Tilson's jail cell mate, Jones. According to the sheriff, the stolen car Jones was driving was involved in a multiple car accident. When they checked out what remained of the car, they found the car had been reprogrammed to kill him. Tilson's fingerprints were also found on the car."

Wally stiffened beside Roxanne. 'That's **exactly **how Tilson tried to kill Bart,' thought Wally with some consternation. In the same instant, Auto also thought with the same consternation, 'That's **exactly **how Tilson tried to kill Walter's friend Bart Johnston.'

When Wally felt Roxanne lean away from him, he quickly realized that in his astonishment he had accidentally pressed too hard against her back. He immediately eased the pressure on her back inconspicuously, slowly, and gently rubbing the area where he had inadvertently hurt her. She leaned towards him; a small smile spreading across her face at his gentle massage.

Oblivious to the subtle nonverbal communication between Wally and Roxanne, the captain told her, "O.K., Roxanne." He turned to the other three men. "Tilson's becoming bolder. He's got to be stopped and soon."

"But, Captain, the plan Wally's come up with is **too **risky!" exclaimed Jack.

Roxanne turned to Wally questioningly wondering what plan the lieutenant had been referring to. Wally quickly filled her in on his plan.

"Wally, the Lieutenant's right," said Roxanne, worried. "Tilson could **really **harm you." Her eyes silently told him how much she **didn't **want to see that happen.

Wally turned to face mainly the captain, Jack, and Auto. He addressed all of them. "Like you said, Captain, Tilson has to be stopped. Agent Mann and I will never be safe as long as he's free to attack us again, which he **will **do at his next earliest opportunity. He's already proven that by his bold attack within the precinct here. We've been lucky the last two times he tried to kill us." Wally turned a meaningful look to Automan subtly referring to the virus and how it had nearly done in Auto. "We may not be so lucky the next time." Wally saw the resigned looks in Jack's and Auto's eyes as they realized the truth of Walter's statements. Wally turned to the captain trying to gauge his reaction.

The captain gave them all a somber look. "All right." He made sure to make eye contact with all of them before continuing, "I oppose this plan myself, but Nebisher's right. Tilson has to be stopped before he has the opportunity to strike again. So, against my better judgment, I'm going to agree to this plan unless anyone has a better idea on how to stop Tilson." An uncomfortable silence permeated the room as no one else had a better idea on how to stop Tilson. Captain Boyd turned to Nebicher. "All right, you said you would be able to create a believable patient record of yourself with some inside help of one of the doctors at the hospital?"

"Yes, Sir," replied Wally with a slight smile on his face that the captain was agreeing to his risky plan.

"O.K. We need to find someone who's familiar with who you are and who's had some contact with the rest of us."

"How about Dr. John Tyler?" asked Roxanne. "He worked on Wally's shoulder after Wally had gotten shot by Tilson's hit man. He's also met the rest of us."

The captain leaned back in his chair. "Dr. Tyler?" pondered the captain. He remembered his brief interactions with the doctor. Dr. Tyler struck him as compassionate as well as professional. He turned his attention to Nebicher. "O.K. Tell him, but make sure you meet with him discreetly. This whole plan will fall apart if Tilson finds out you're okay."

"Yes, sir," said Wally.

"All right." He turned to Jack. "Lieutenant, Sholes is still hanging around outside, right?"

"Yes, sir," responded Jack with slight confusion.

"You and Caldwell 'tip him off' to the explosion."

"Yes, sir," said Jack.

"All right." When no one left his office right away, Captain Boyd said, "Well, what are we waiting for, let's get to work." As he watched everyone filter out of his office, he kept his attention on Nebicher's back praying he wasn't making a mistake that would end up with Nebicher dead.

When they were outside of the captain's office, Jack turned to Wally. "Wally, I'm not even going to count the number of ways this plan could go wrong, so just be careful. Tilson could seriously hurt you before we might be able to get to him and arrest him."

Wally nodded and said, "I will."

Jack excused himself and headed to his own cubicle.

Automan and Roxanne followed Wally into the computer room. Wally closed the door after them. When he turned around, they were regarding him with apprehensive looks. Auto was the first one to speak. "Walter, Lt. Curtis is correct. You must be careful. Tilson could and would seriously harm you before we may get to him."

"I will, Auto," replied Wally. A look of frustration came into his eyes as he added, "I just wish there was some way to instantly let you know when Tilson's in the room."

A thoughtful look came into Automan's eyes as he considered a way for Walter to instantly alert Lieutenant Curtis, Roxanne, and himself when Tilson was in the room. "There may **be **a way for you to instantly let us know when Tilson is in the room."

Wally and Roxanne looked to Auto confused. "How?" asked Roxanne.

Auto instantly outlined the designs for an "emergency button" he could have Cursor rez up shortly before they put Walter's plan into action. It would be a two-part device. One part would be a small push button "pen" Walter would conceal in the palm of his hand. When the button on the pen was pushed, it would send out via an ultra high frequency a signal to the other part of the apparatus. The other device would be with Jack, Auto, and Roxanne, essentially a small black box with a domed red light in the middle. When the red light glowed, it's a signal for them to get into the room quickly because Tilson was in there.

Wally shook his head at the simplicity yet effectiveness of such a device before looking to Automan with a proud smile. "Auto, you're amazing."

Auto smiled at Walter's praise, pleased Walter liked the design.

Walter said, "Since the rest of the plan depends on my creating the record with Dr. Tyler's help, I think I can handle this part of the plan on my own. Thanks, Auto."

Auto nodded before disappearing.

Roxanne turned to Wally. She came closer to him taking his hands in her hands. "Lt. Curtis and Automan are right. Tilson could seriously injure you before they get to him, so be careful. I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt again." The brief image of Automan carrying Wally out of that old office building again flashed through Roxanne's mind. She quickly banished the picture from her mind. She let go of his left hand and gently traced her right hand along his left cheek before continuing, "I'll let you get to work contacting Dr. Tyler. Please, just be careful. I love you, and I don't want to lose you." She reached up placing a gentle kiss on his lips feeling him readily return the kiss. She pulled away, and they reluctantly parted hands as she walked out of the computer room.

Wally sat at the computer terminal considering the best way to contact Dr. Tyler and how to explain the plan to him. He knew the doctor wouldn't like the plan any more than Jack, Auto, and Roxanne did.


	13. Creating FEAR

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 13--Creating F.E.A.R. (**F**alse **E**vidence **A**ppearing **R**eal)

Wally sat at the computer terminal in the California Hospital Medical Center's computer room with a brown-haired man in his forties wearing bifocal glasses and a hospital smock looking over his shoulder.

"All right, Walter. Just enter in your basic information--name, address, etc.--in the appropriate fields. We'll talk about the 'injuries' after you've finished with that," said the brown-haired man.

"O.K., Dr. Tyler," replied Wally. He quickly filled in the fields he readily knew the answers to.

Dr. Tyler gazed as Walter's fingers deftly flew over the keyboard as he started filling in as many fields as he readily knew the answers to admiring Walter's ability to maneuver around the patient database. Tyler remembered back to when Walter had first told him about Walter's insanely crazy idea to stop some person named Ronald Tilson, who he had learned had set up the hit that nearly killed Walter and his friend, Agent Mann, almost a month ago. He couldn't believe he was going along with this plan. He strongly objected to it originally on the grounds that Tilson could seriously hurt Walter. Tilson had already tried to eliminate him twice now. (Walter had obviously told him about the computer console explosion at the LAPD.) Walter had convinced him by pointing out that he and his friend, Agent Mann, will never be safe until Tilson was safely incarcerated. Tilson **will **try to attack again, and next time they may not be so lucky.

Dr. Tyler was brought back to the present when Walter told him, "O.K., I've filled in every field I knew how to fill in."

"All right. Now we get to the hard part. Before you type in anything into the computer, I want you to describe to me what the console looked like just after it exploded and where you would have been standing or sitting if Agent Mann hadn't pulled you away from the console. That way I can get an idea of what kind of injuries you would have sustained."

"Sure," replied Wally. He quickly described to the doctor where he was standing before Auto grabbed him and what the console looked like.

As Dr. Tyler stood listening to Walter's brief descriptions, he became more and more amazed that Walter and Agent Mann **had **survived the explosion. When Walter finished the descriptions, Tyler said, "From what you described, it's amazing you two survived that explosion." He stood picturing the incident as Walter described it trying to figure out how Walter might have been hurt. "Well, you were right about a coma. From what you describe, you would have at the very least been unconscious for some time."

"I figure all the flying debris would have created multiple injuries, as well," said Wally.

"Maybe. Were there any large pieces that were blown free of the console?"

"The biggest piece I found was about the size of my fist."

"You probably would have only have sustained multiple small lacerations, then,--probably mostly on you arms as you would have instinctively put them up to protect your face. Of course, some of the fragments could have hit your face before you managed to put your arms up. Nothing too serious from that angle unless the pieces became imbedded. Then, it could lead to possible infection." Dr. Tyler saw Walter's attention drawn to the idea of the imbedded pieces. He quickly thwarted Walter's idea saying, "For simplicity's sake, we'll only say you received multiple lacerations. **No **imbedding. What equipment would have been behind you that you could have been thrown against?"

Wally sat for a few seconds recollecting the layout of the computer room at the LAPD in relation to the exploded console and where he would have been standing. He realized the mainframes themselves would have been behind him. If he had hit into one of those, he **could **have been **seriously **injured. He turned to Dr. Tyler and told him the mainframes would have been behind him.

"Well, since you were standing at an angle to the exploded console, that angle would have saved your life. You could have broken your left arm when you hit one of the mainframes and severely twisted your left knee when you fell."

"What about injuring my back or neck?"

"Although that could have possibly happened," replied Dr. Tyler. "I don't think you'd want to be in traction. Besides, you wouldn't be able to get out of it to defend yourself against Tilson when he came into the room." He paused. "Walter, as nice of a person as you are, I really **don't **want to see you back here as a patient for real."

"Me, either. No offense."

"None taken. Now what else?"

Both men thought for awhile. When nothing else came to mind, Dr. Tyler turned to Walter. "O.K. This is what I want you to type into the field that says 'Condition:': 'Patient unconscious on arrival with multiple minor lacerations on arms and face.'" Walter's fingers flew over the keyboard as he typed in the words. "'Left arm broken at Humerus. Left knee severely swollen--possible sprain.' Then, go down one line and indent for a new paragraph. 'After Glasgow Coma Scale Level analysis, patient in deep coma. Rating: 8.'

"O.K. That's it. I can convincingly update the record as needed based on what we've come up with. When do you plan on implementing this crazy idea of yours?"

"Soon, I hope. There's a couple of minor details I have to work out."

"O.K. Well, let's set up the room you're going to be in as well as the equipment. We can decide where to go from there."

Wally nodded and stood.

Just before they were about to leave the room, Dr. Tyler turned to Walter. "Walter, I am serious when I said I don't want to see you hurt. So be careful."

"I will," replied Wally. He followed Dr. Tyler out of the room to the police ward.

* * *

They stood in the police ward.

"All right, first, we need to set up the private room you'll be staying in," said Dr. Tyler. "Somewhere with privacy yet easily accessible." He stroked his chin as he stood thinking for a while. Suddenly, his head snapped up. "I've got it."

He lead Walter down the corridor to a room half way down the corridor. When Wally walked into the room, he looked around the room. He felt almost a certain déjà vu. The room seemed familiar to him somehow.

Dr. Tyler turned to Walter seeing the look of vague familiarity on Walter's face as he gazed around the room. "Familiar?"

"Yes," said Wally, uncertain why the room felt so familiar.

"It should be. It's the same room you were transferred to from the ICU the last time you were here."

"Oh," replied Wally understanding.

"There are rooms on either side of this that could be reserved for use for your back-up, Agent Mann, Lt. Curtis, and Officer Caldwell, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes."

"Good," replied Dr. Tyler. He had seen the professional demeanor Agent Mann, Lt. Curtis, and Officer Caldwell possessed as well as how protective they were of Walter. He would be well protected. "Now, the equipment needed. Since we're saying you'll be in a coma, we'll need to hook you up to an ECG and an EEG."

"Won't those get in the way when I try to defend myself if Tilson does enter the room?"

"No. I'll only loosely attach the leads. If you sit up fast enough, they'll fall right off. I'll also have to attach an IV."

"That's going to get in the way," objected Wally.

"Not necessarily. I could attach it at such an angle that you could easily pull it out. It would be a bit painful but wouldn't cause any serious damage."

"All right," replied Walter not relishing having to pull the IV out. "What else?"

"Well, there's the 'costuming', if you will, the disguise, to make it all appear legit. You'll need a hospital gown. . ." At Walter's unenthusiastic look, Dr. Tyler said, "I know. Not the best fashion statement, but think of it this way. You won't have to wear it long."

Wally brightened a little at that.

"I'll also need to fashion a cast for your left arm that you can easily break out of," continued Dr. Tyler. "You'll also need to wear an ace bandage on your left knee, since we did say you had severely twisted it. The bandage shouldn't hamper your movement too much. I'm not quite sure how to convincingly create the lacerations, though, without literally creating them--something I will **not **do."

Wally thought for a few seconds on that problem. His mind suddenly flashed back to when he had seen Auto shoot that one newsstand guy and the realistic looking bullet wound Cursor created. "I have an idea on how to solve that problem, but I'll need to use the hospital computer again."

"Sure," replied Dr. Tyler unsure how using the hospital computer would solve creating the lacerations. "I'll have someone from security lead you back down to the computer room, and I'll start having the equipment set up here."

Wally nodded and followed Dr. Tyler out of the room. Dr. Tyler walked up to the nurses station. "I need someone from security paged down to escort Officer Nebicher here to the computer room."

"Yes, Doctor," replied one of the nurses. She sent out the page, and within a minute a young looking man with brown hair met them.

"You paged?" asked the young man.

"Yes, Michael," replied Dr. Tyler. "I need you to escort Officer Nebicher here to the computer room."

"Yes, sir, Dr. Tyler," said Michael. He turned to Wally. "If you'll follow me."

Wally nodded his readiness. He followed the young man to the computer room. After a short while, they reached the computer room.

"Thank you," said Wally. "I'll be okay from here, but how do I page you when I'm done?"

Michael pointed to a wall where an intercom was located. "Just press that intercom. I'll be in the security booth that intercom is connected to."

Wally nodded in understanding. He waited until the guard had left the room before typing 'Load Automan' on the computer. The phrase 'Enter access code:' appeared underneath. He typed 'crimefighter'. The phrase 'Access being verified. Please wait . . .' appeared underneath. A few seconds later, the words 'Access verified.' appeared, and a sudden rumbling could be felt. The lights around him flashed and dimmed.

A ball of light burst forth out of the monitor hovering in front of Wally before zooming a few feet away. Automan started materializing next to Cursor. After Automan had fully materialized, he turned to Walter. "Greetings, Walter."

"Hi, Auto. We're almost set, but I need your help with part of the plan."

"O.K. What kind of help do you need?"

"Well," replied Wally knowing Auto wasn't going to like what he had to say next. "Dr. Tyler and I agreed that the flying debris would have created multiple minor lacerations on my face and arms. I need you have Cursor create those healing lacerations on my face and arms."

"But, Walter, the cuts will feel real. They'll hurt. I'm not going to hurt you," objected Automan.

"I'll be okay, Auto. I've dealt with the pain of being shot in the shoulder. I think I can handle pain from some cuts."

"I still don't know, Walter. I don't want to hurt you, and these lacerations **will **hurt."

"I'll be okay, Auto," reassured Wally a second time. "besides Cursor won't need to create them for long. Just long enough to convince Tilson of my injuries. Then, he could derezz them and it would be like I never had them."

"O.K.," agreed Auto reluctantly. "When do you need Cursor to create them?"

"Not yet. How long can you remain visible within the hospital here?"

"I can stay for as long as my presence is required. I can safely draw power from the disused secondary generators without interrupting any of the other vital equipment here."

"Okay, come with me to the police ward. Dr. Tyler should have the rest of the equipment set up. After we've gotten the rest of the masquerade in place and the doctor has left the room, you can have Cursor rez up the lacerations."

Automan nodded still not totally happy about having to hurt Walter.

"You better change first before we go," said Wally.

Auto nodded and commanded, "Cursor." Cursor appeared and rezzed up a light blue shirt, gray tie, and dark gray business suit jacket over black slacks over Auto's body. Once the clothing had fully materialized on Auto's body, he turned to Walter to signal he was ready.

Wally nodded, went to the wall, and hit the intercom buzzer. Within a minute, Michael came back into the room. He paused when he saw Auto.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" asked Michael suspiciously.

"It's okay," replied Wally. "This is my good friend Federal Agent Otto Mann. Dr. Tyler knows him as well. He's going to be helping us."

"All right," replied Michael accepting Wally's word. "Follow me."

They followed Michael out of the computer room back to the police ward. They quickly met up with Dr. Tyler.

"Hello, Agent Mann," greeted Dr. Tyler.

"Hello, Dr. Tyler," replied Auto. He shook hands with the doctor slightly shocking him.

Dr. Tyler turned to Walter. "I've set up the equipment. Now, all we have to do is get you into costume." He directed both men to the private room.

"Sure, but before we get started, mind if I make a phone call first?" asked Wally.

"No, go ahead," replied Dr. Tyler.

Wally went to the nurses station in the police ward. "Officer Nebicher," said Wally holding up his badge for the nurse to read. "I need to make a phone call. May I use one of the phones here?" asked Wally pointing to one of the phones at the nurses' station.

"Sure," said a nurse after examining the badge. She put one of the phones on the counter so he could easily reach it. "Just dial nine to reach an outside line."

Wally nodded in gratitude before dialing nine and the number to the LAPD station and Jack's desk. After a few seconds, he said into the phone, "Lieutenant, it's Wally. Agent Mann's already here with me. We're almost set up here."

"O.K., Wally. What injuries should we 'report'?"

"A broken arm, severely sprained knee from when I fell, and cuts on my face and arms as well as the coma of course."

"All right, Roxanne and I will 'complete' our part and meet you and Agent Mann there," replied Jack.

"O.K., see you then." Wally hung up the phone. "Thank you," said Wally to the nurse.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Walter met up with Dr. Tyler and Auto, who were patiently waiting for him in the hallway. They all went to the private room. Wally quickly changed into the hospital gown the doctor had sitting on the bed for him. His other clothing was put in a plastic bag on the floor near the table near the left hand side of the bed. He pulled back the sheet and blanket and laid down on the bed. Dr. Tyler quickly, yet loosely, hooked up the EEG and ECG leads. He fashioned a cast over Walter's left arm and, using the small buzz saw he had brought into the room, carefully cut the cast so Walter could effortlessly break out of it. He inserted the IV needle at a shallow angle on Walter's right arm to allow Walter to remove it easily. "The fluid in the IV is a simple saline solution that shouldn't cause any ill effects," briefly explained Dr. Tyler. He then quickly wrapped an ace bandage over Walter's left knee. When the disguise was complete, he told Walter, "Well, most of the disguise is taken care of. What about the minor lacerations we talked about?"

"Agent Mann and I have already figured out a way to create the lacerations," replied Wally confidently.

"Well, since that's taken care of, before I leave I want to teach you some simple breathing techniques that will help to keep your breathing steady."

Wally carefully nodded.

Seeing how Walter would be busy with Dr. Tyler for a while, Auto stated, "I'm going to examine the rooms next door to see which one Lt. Curtis, Officer Caldwell, and I will most likely use."

Wally and the doctor nodded.

Automan left the room heading to the room next door. He quickly looked around the room to see if he, Lt. Curtis, and Roxanne could use the room and how they might modify it to suit their needs. After a few brief modifications, Auto was satisfied the room could now be safely used to monitor Walter. He walked back into Walter's room. He silently stood in the doorway watching as Walter followed Dr. Tyler's instructions to control his breathing. After a few minutes, Dr. Tyler ended the lessons telling Walter, "O.K. Remember you're supposed to be in a coma. Coma patients generally don't move around a lot. The rest is up to you. Be careful and good luck."

"Thank you, Doctor," replied Wally.

Dr. Tyler turned a bit startled. "Agent Mann, I didn't see you there. Will the room next door suffice?"

"Yes."

"Well, then I'll leave you two to figure out how to create the lacerations and set up anything else you might deem necessary for Walter's safety."

"Thank you, Dr. Tyler," replied Auto. He saw Dr. Tyler nod in reply before leaving the room. Auto turned to Walter. If it weren't for Walter's eyes tracking his every movement and if he hadn't been there when the console exploded, Automan almost might have believed himself that Walter had been seriously injured by that exploding console. He came closer to Walter's bed. "Walter, I am still not sure about creating these lacerations. They **will **hurt, and I don't want to hurt you."

"Like I've said before, Auto, I'll be okay. Besides, it'll only be for a short while anyway."

Auto nodded still not happy about what he was about to do. He commanded, "Cursor." Cursor appeared and created minor healing lacerations on Walter's face and arms.

Walter winced realizing Automan was right. They **did **hurt. When he saw Auto's worried look, he quickly gave Auto a reassuring smile. "What about the 'emergency button' you were telling Roxanne and me about at the station?" asked Wally trying to change the subject.

"I'm not going to have Cursor create the device until Lt. Curtis and Roxanne join us. I will need to show them how the device works as well."

"All right. Speaking of Jack and Roxanne, now the rest is up to them."

Auto nodded in reply. "Let's just hope Tilson falls for the bait," said Auto.

Wally carefully nodded before confidently saying, "He will. He's already tried to get us twice. How could he resist?"

"Yes," replied Automan a bit uneasily. "Hopefully, Lt. Curtis and I can arrest Tilson **before **he 'gets' you."

"Yeah," agreed Wally.


	14. Leaking Misinformation

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 14--Leaking Misinformation

Jack hung up the phone after talking to Wally at the hospital. He really hated this plan Wally came up with but was only going along with it because they, frankly, didn't have a better one to catch Tilson. 'Show time,' he thought. He walked to Roxanne's desk. When he reached her desk, he said, "Wally says he's almost set up, so time to do our part."

Roxanne nodded and followed Jack out of the police station. They walked for a short while.

Jack spotted his target within a short amount of time: a small, skinny, balding dark-haired man, crime reporter Tom Sholes. No one at the station liked the little weasel. He kept getting in the way, and the captain eventually relegated him to outside the station. Outside, he wasn't as much of a nuisance, but he still found a way to get in their face if he smelled a juicy story. 'Well, this ought to entice him,' thought Jack with some perverse pleasure. He guided Roxanne to an area on the sidewalk where they would have to pass near Sholes. He whispered over to Roxanne, "O.K., show time."

She nodded in understanding before asking him in a loud enough voice for Sholes to overhear her, "How is Wally doing at the hospital?"

Jack kept a subtle eye on Sholes while he replied, "He's getting there." Jack suppressed a smile as he saw Sholes start to inconspicuously follow them pen poised over his writing tablet. 'That's it. Just start writing,' silently coaxed Jack.

Roxanne asked Jack, "What kind of injuries did the doctor say he 'had'?"

"Well, he's got a broken arm, severely sprained knee from when he fell, cuts all over his face and arms, and he's still in the coma," replied Jack. 'Time to embellish and cinch Sholes' attention,' thought Jack. Out loud, he said, "That explosion caused by the sabotaged computer console at the station here really did a number on him. The doctor told me he's very lucky he was standing at an angle to the console when it exploded, or Tilson would have succeeded in killing him." Jack inconspicuously looked over his shoulder. Sholes was writing with a frenzy in his writing tablet with occasional glances in their direction. 'Task accomplished,' thought Jack triumphantly looking forward. Now, hopefully, Sholes will get the ruse printed in the evening edition.

When Jack glanced back again to Sholes, he saw Sholes approaching his and Roxanne's position. Once Sholes reached their position, he said, "Lieutenant Curtis, Officer Caldwell, hi, Tom Sholes."

Jack and Roxanne turned to Sholes giving him a barely congenial look. "Hi, Sholes," said Jack dryly.

"Hi," replied Roxanne just as dryly.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I couldn't help overhearing about an explosion at the precinct here?" asked Sholes. "The officer you mentioned being hurt. That wouldn't be Walter Nebicher by any chance?"

"I can't tell you that. Now if you'll excuse us."

Sholes nodded looking slightly disappointed but determined to verify this juicy tidbit of information.

Jack turned to Roxanne. "Come on. Let's go see how he's doing," he said.

She nodded and they walked towards Jack's unmarked car. Jack saw Sholes watching them walk to the car still writing occasional notes in his notepad. 'That's it. Just print the story Sholes,' Jack silently thought towards Sholes. To himself, he silently added worriedly, 'I just hope you know what you're doing, Wally. Once Tilson gets a hold of this story, he's definitely going to be coming for you to finish what he started.' They had to stop Tilson before he **did **succeed in killing Wally.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. Unfortunately, next chapter is going to be somewhat short as well. Essential to the story and all that. The later chapters will be longer, however. Oh, and thanks for the continuing reviews!


	15. Taking the Bait

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 15--Taking The Bait

Tilson stepped out of the shabby, rundown motel he had been using as a hide-out heading down the block toward the newspaper dispenser he had been watching for the last three days for any word on an explosion at the LAPD. He figured the virus had already finished off "Otto Mann", and all he needed was confirmation of Nebicher's demise. Then, he could terrorize LA until it paid without any interference from those two.

He stopped in front of the dispenser studying the headline, which read "Explosion At LAPD Leaves Officer In Critical Condition In Hospital". He immediately dug out change from his jean pocket and got a paper. He quickly skimmed the story realizing Nebicher had survived the explosion--barely. He had been severely injured and was in a coma in a private room in the police ward of the California Hospital Medical Center under guard. 'Unbelievable. He only survived because he was standing at an angle to the console,' thought Tilson with amazement. 'Otherwise, he would have been killed.'

Tilson tucked the paper under his arm heading back to the motel. Once inside the motel, Tilson sat on the bed contemplating how to finish what the explosion hadn't. After a few minutes, an idea formed in his mind. He checked out of the motel.

First, he would need to acquire a weapon. He headed to a shadier part of town and entered a run down gun shop. He walked up to the counter. A slightly overweight man in his late forties with greasy black hair pulled back into a ponytail came out of a back room. "How can I help you?"

"I need to acquire a gun quickly."

"Cop?"

"Do I look like a cop?" replied Tilson a bit irritated.

The man studied him. "No." After a pause, he said, "Hold on a minute." He went into the back room and came back out with a semi-automatic .38 caliper gun and a case of bullets. He laid the gun and box of ammunition on the counter.

Tilson picked up the gun hefting it checking its weight and balance before putting it back on the counter. "Good. Price?"

"$300. And no background check."

"Agreed," replied Tilson a bit reluctantly. He pulled the money out of his jean pocket and handed it to the man.

The man quickly examined and counted the money before putting the gun and bullets in a black bag. He handed the bag to Tilson and said, "Nice doing business with you."

"Yeah," replied Tilson as he took the bag and headed out of the shop. He proceeded for the California Hospital Medical Center convinced that after he completed this one task and received the money he believed LA owed him, he would no longer have any use for such shabby surroundings.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. Next chapter will be a little longer--and a lot more interesting. Sorry about the incredibly long delay again. Just got my computer online. Yay! Just got promoted. Double yay!! (I think--lots more responsibilities and headaches!.) And, finally, in the middle of a busy season at work. (Talk about being a bit stressed out!)

Again, keep those reviews coming. :)


	16. Daring Attack

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 16--Daring Attack

Wally watched as Automan seemed to stare at the wall. He realized Auto must be looking **through **the wall to what lay beyond. He asked, "What is it, Auto?" Tilson couldn't have picked up the story **that **fast.

Automan turned to Walter. "Lt. Curtis and Roxanne are heading for the room," stated Auto. He held out his hands palms up before commanding, "Cursor." Cursor appeared and rezzed up two devices, one in each of Auto's hands. The first device appeared to Wally like a small push pen with a red button on top resting in Auto's right hand, and the second device in Auto's left hand appeared to Wally like a small black box with a domed red light set in the middle of the box. Wally soon realized Auto had Cursor rez up the "emergency button" device Auto had come up with at the station.

A few moments later, Jack and Roxanne walked into the room. They paused when they saw Walter. Worried looks started forming on their faces, and Wally quickly reassured them, "I'm okay. These are all fake."

Wally saw them nod before turning to Auto. Auto held out the devices for Jack to inspect while explaining, "These devices are what I've dubbed an 'emergency button'. They will allow us to know when Tilson is in the room. This small pen"--Auto held out the small push pen--"Walter will conceal in his palm. Once Tilson enters the room, I've instructed him to push the button. The pen will send out a signal via ultra high frequency that this box"--Auto held out the small black box with the domed red light--"reacts to. When Walter presses the button, the light will glow alerting us that Tilson is in the room."

"Won't the frequency interfere with the equipment in the hospital?" asked Jack.

"No. The device works on a frequency not used by any of the equipment within the hospital."

"Excellent," replied Jack not really surprised that Agent Mann had thought of such a simple yet effective device to alert them to Tilson's presence. "What about a room we could use as a stake out?"

"I've already modified the room next door for our use."

"Good," said Jack with some enthusiasm. "Let's get everything set up then. If Wally's right about Tilson taking the bait right away, we won't have much time before he shows up."

Automan nodded. He handed the push pen device to Wally, who carefully reached out his right hand so as not to accidentally dislodge the IV needle taking the device. "Keep this near you at all times," instructed Auto. "Press the button **the instant **you see Tilson in the room. We'll be in the room next door."

Wally carefully nodded and closed his hand over the device effectively concealing it before laying his hand on the bed. Auto loosely pulled the sheet and blanket over Walter up to Walter's chest to complete the ruse before turning to Jack and Roxanne signaling he was ready.

Wally watched as they all headed into the room next door closing the door behind them before closing his eyes carefully trying to get in as comfortable a position as possible. The last time he was on a hospital bed he had been shot in the left shoulder and was recovering from severe hypovolemic shock. This time was different. This time he had intentionally placed himself in this position. His plan was very risky in terms of Tilson injuring him for real, but he had to stop Tilson. Tilson had already tried to kill him and Automan twice now.

He remembered Dr. Tyler's and Auto's instructions to him. He was to remain as still as he could. "Remember you're supposed to be in a coma. Coma patients generally don't move around a lot," Dr. Tyler had said to him. He was finding that hard to do. The EEG and ECG leads were uncomfortable and the fake cast on his left arm and ace bandage on his left knee left him too warm and uncomfortable. His right hand had also started to cramp up a bit as he held part of the "emergency button" concealed in his hand. He was also to keep his breathing as even as possible. The doctor had helped him with that aspect of this whole ruse by teaching Wally some simple breathing techniques that would help to keep his breathing steady. Auto had told him to keep the emergency "pen" nearby at all times and to press the button as soon as he saw Tilson in the room. Auto, Jack, and Roxanne would be stationed in the room next door.

He heard the door open and risked squinting one eye open. Tilson had taken the bait and was in the room disguised as an intern. He also had a gun. Wally quickly and inconspicuously pressed the button of the emergency device alerting Jack, Auto, and Roxanne that Tilson was in the room.

As Tilson got closer, Walter tried as hard as he could to stay as still as he could. Not an easy task. Inside, he was edgy to attack Tilson for all the pain and suffering he had caused both him and Auto. When Tilson got within a foot of the bed, Wally sprung up causing the EEG and ECG leads as well as the sheet and blanket Automan had placed over him to fall off, winced as he pulled out the IV, and broke away the pseudo cast. Tilson was taken by surprise and quickly stepped back. Wally dropped the "pen" on the bed as he hastily got off the bed and struggled with Tilson for control of the gun. Tilson was a little taller than Wally and a little stronger and kept getting the barrel of the gun uncomfortably close to Walter's left temple. Walter heard a deafening roar as the gun went off near his left ear. Pain exploded near his left temple just before his world went black.

A/N: Another cliffhanger...oh my! (sly grin)


	17. Arrest and Recuperation

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For the rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 17--Arrest and Recuperation

Jack watched Agent Mann place the box on a table. He, Agent Mann, and Roxanne all kept a watchful eye on the light. Jack had instructed Roxanne that as soon as the light glowed she was to get Dr. Tyler in case Tilson did manage to harm Wally before they could get into the room.

A few minutes after they had set up, the light on the box glowed. "Go, Roxanne!" instructed Jack.

Roxanne nodded and quickly headed out of the room intent on getting Dr. Tyler. She just hoped the lieutenant and Automan got into the room before Tilson had a chance to seriously harm Wally.

Jack turned to Agent Mann and nodded. They both exited the room heading for the room next door when they heard a gun shot. Both prayed Walter hadn't been shot. They rushed into the room. Tilson was standing over Wally, who was flat on his back on the floor, unconscious--at least Jack prayed that Wally was only unconscious. Blood was starting to pool near the left side of Wally's head. Tilson had a gun in his hand poised to shoot at Wally again.

Jack yelled, "Hold it right there, Tilson!"

Tilson spun around startled.

"Drop the gun!" ordered Jack. When Tilson didn't drop the gun right away, Jack ordered more harshly, "Drop it! Now!!"

Seeing Lt. Curtis' unwavering aim on him, Tilson dropped the gun surrendering. Jack quickly went over to Tilson and arrested him. Jack saw Agent Mann immediately grab two towels from a nearby drawer and rush to Wally's position.

Automan knelt next to Walter's left shoulder quickly feeling for a pulse. Relieved when he found a strong, steady pulse, Auto whispered, "Cursor." Cursor derezzed the fake lacerations on Walter's face and arms as well as the "emergency button" devices. Within moments, all but two wounds disappeared from Walter's face and arms. The injury on Walter's left temple still bled freely. The wound on his right arm where the IV tubing had been was only slightly bleeding. Auto wrapped one towel around Walter's arm to stanch the bleeding. The second towel he used to quickly, yet carefully, wipe away the blood on Walter's cheek and temple inspecting the gash. He was relieved when he saw that the wound itself wasn't really that deep. It was bleeding a lot, though. Using the towel, he applied pressure to Walter's temple to stem the bleeding. "Walter? Walter? It's Auto. Wake up," Auto called out gently shaking Walter, his voice filling with ever increasing worry.

Jack quickly turned Tilson over to a uniformed police officer and went to where Agent Mann was kneeling next to Wally. He knelt next to Wally's head beside Agent Mann. 'God, not another coma,' thought Jack fearfully. He really didn't want to have to go through another occurrence of Wally in a coma for real. Bad enough that they had set that up as part of the ruse. "How is he?" he asked concerned.

While still applying pressure to Walter's temple, Auto quickly looked to Lt. Curtis saying, "Luckily, it looks like the bullet just grazed Walter's left temple. The impact might have caused a concussion, which may explain the unconsciousness." Auto heard Lt. Curtis sigh in relief, his worst fears obviously having been allayed. Auto continued, "I can't tell for certain, though. Walter isn't responding to me."

Jack had sent Roxanne ahead to get Dr. Tyler in case something like this happened. He swore under his breath, "Dammit! I **knew **this plan was way too risky."

Roxanne and Dr. Tyler came into the room swiftly taking in the situation. Roxanne stayed back staring apprehensively at Wally. Dr. Tyler stepped to Lt. Curtis', Agent Mann's, and Walter's position without forcing Agent Mann or Lt. Curtis to move. "Keep pressure on that wound," instructed the doctor. He saw Agent Mann nod to him. He realized it was too cramped on the floor to work properly and rapidly cleaned off the bed. "Let's get him on the bed," suggested Dr. Tyler. He went to Walter's right side.

Auto asked Lt. Curtis to keep pressure on Walter's temple. Auto took his hand off of the towel and Curtis' hand immediately replaced Auto's. Together, Dr. Tyler and Auto cautiously reached under Walter's limp body carefully supporting him. They looked to each other and nodded their readiness to each other.

"On the count of three," said Dr. Tyler. "One. Two. Three." Dr. Tyler and Auto deftly lifted Walter off of the floor and gently placed him on the hospital bed. Roxanne came closer to the bed. Auto made room for her to stand next to the bed by Walter's left shoulder, and she took Wally's left hand in her left hand.

"Keep pressure on that wound," instructed Dr. Tyler. "I'll be right back." He left the room returning within a minute later with wound cleaning and binding materials. He went to the right side of Walter's bed. He removed the towel on Walter's right arm and swiftly, proficiently cleaned and bandaged the wound. When he had Lieutenant Curtis remove the towel from Walter's head, he found the bleeding had slowed. He expertly cleaned and bound the wound on Walter's left temple. "Walter is a very lucky young man," stated Dr. Tyler after a moment. "Looks like the bullet just grazed his left temple. He may possibly have a concussion, though. That would explain the unconsciousness. I'll know for certain when he wakes up."

After a few minutes, Wally's eyes fluttered open. His head throbbed and he felt slightly nauseous. He realized someone was holding his left hand. He tried focusing on the four forms above his bed. After a few seconds, the faces of Auto, Roxanne, Jack, and Dr. Tyler came into focus. When he discerned that Roxanne was holding his hand, he held her hand in return. "What happened?" asked Wally, confused. How did he end up in the bed again?

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Dr. Tyler taking a penlight out of one of the pockets of his hospital smock and shining the light into Walter's eyes checking Walter's pupillary dilation. The irises were slow to respond to the light.

Wally squinted into the penlight; the light hurting his eyes. He tried to recall what had happened to him through the throbbing behind his eyes. "Tilson had entered the room with a gun. I activated the emergency button Agent Mann had come up with, sat up dislodging the sheet and blanket and EEG and ECG leads, pulled out the IV, broke off the fake cast, and fought with him over control of the gun. Then, . . . waking up in the bed. I don't understand."

"Post-traumatic amnesia," replied Dr. Tyler replacing the penlight back in the pocket of his hospital smock. "It's okay. I'm sure it'll come back to you over time. You are a very lucky young man. Looks like Tilson **had **shot you, but the bullet only grazed your left temple. How do you feel?" He quickly took Walter's blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, and temperature making notes on Walter's patient record as he went along.

After Dr. Tyler had finished quickly evaluating Wally's vitals, Wally let go of Roxanne's hand and reached towards his left temple wincing as he carefully felt the bandage surrounding his head. "My head's throbbing. I also feel slightly nauseous."

"Sounds like the bullet caused a mild concussion," diagnosed Dr. Tyler. "I'll get you some Extra Strength Tylenol for the headache, but the nausea should go away on its own after awhile. If it does get worse, I'll give you some anti-nausea medicine. You'll have to stay in the hospital for real this time for at least twenty-four hours for observation. I don't want your concussion getting any worse."

Wally nodded wincing as even that slight movement increased the throbbing in his head.

Dr. Tyler left the room for a minute before coming back in with a plastic cup with two pills in it and a glass of water. He came to the right side of Walter's bed and put the cup and glass on a table near the bed before carefully helping Walter to sit up. Walter's face suddenly tinged green as the nausea threatened to engulf him. He fought not to throw up. Dr. Tyler still had his left hand on Walter's back when he saw Walter's expression and quickly said, "Take some deep breaths." He turned to Lieutenant Curtis. "Under that table there"--he pointed to the left hand table--"there should be a small, yellow container. Could you please reach in there and hand it to me?"

"Sure," replied Lt. Curtis. He reached under the table quickly locating the container. He handed it to Dr. Tyler, who immediately placed it under Walter's mouth.

"Easy. Deep breaths," soothed Dr. Tyler to Walter still keeping his left hand on Walter's back.

Wally took some deep breaths feeling the nausea start to abate. After a minute, he weakly nodded to the doctor that he would be okay.

Dr. Tyler put the container on the table near the right hand side of the bed. He handed the plastic cup and pills to Walter who gratefully took them. Wally took the pills and drank the water before handing both cups back to the doctor.

"Now I want you to get some rest. I'll come back in an hour to check on you," said Dr. Tyler. He helped Wally reluctantly and carefully lay back down as well as helping Walter rearrange the sheet and blanket so that they covered his body.

Wally closed his eyes. After a few minutes, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

After Walter fell asleep, Dr. Tyler silently motioned for Agent Mann, Officer Caldwell, and Lt. Curtis to follow him out into the hallway. Once in the hallway, Dr. Tyler turned to them. "Like I told Walter, I want to keep him here for 24 hours for observation. I know you want to see him, but I would like Walter to get some rest right now. I suggest coming back in about two hours. He may be awake by then. Just remember, he will be more susceptible to fatigue, so try not to stress him too much and try to keep your visit brief. He needs the rest."

"Yes, Doctor," replied all three.

"Thank you, Dr. Tyler," said Auto. Jack and Roxanne nodded in gratitude as well.

A couple of hours later, Walter was still lightly dozing when he heard the door open. He opened his eyes relieved when he no longer felt nauseous. His headache was down to a dull to almost nonexistent ache as well. Dr. Tyler had been in to check on him quite a few times already, so he thought it might have been Dr. Tyler to check on him again. He turned his head to see who had come in as a sudden, irrational fear gripped him as he thought that somehow Tilson had come back to finish what he started. He let out a brief sigh of relief when he realized it was only Jack, Roxanne, and Auto--still disguised as Federal Agent Mann. He smiled as he saw them approach the bed. He slid over so Roxanne could sit down on the left edge of the bed. She accepted his invitation sitting on the bed moving as close to him as she could. He put his left hand on her left hip, and she placed her hand over his.

A few moments later, Dr. Tyler came into the room. He had topical wound cleaning and treatment medicine as well as wound binding materials and a pair of sterile gloves in his hands. He placed them on the table within easy reach before briefly greeting Walter's visitors. He turned his attention to Walter. "How are you feeling?" he asked Walter.

"Much better. The nausea's gone and the headache's almost gone."

"Good. Remember anything else about your fight with Tilson?"

"Well, like I said before," replied Wally. "I remember activating the emergency 'pen' Agent Mann came up with, sitting up dislodging the sheet and blanket and EEG and ECG leads, pulling the IV out, breaking off the fake cast, and fighting with Tilson over control of the gun." He paused. "I also remember hearing a deafening roar near my left ear. The gun must have been close to my ear when it went off. Then, pain near my left temple." He paused again as he tried to recollect anything else. "That's it. Then, waking up in the bed."

"Well, sounds like your memory is starting to come back. I know you said you felt better, but I'm still going to have to keep you here until tomorrow. Like I mentioned before, I don't want your concussion to get any worse. If you feel any sudden abnormal dizziness, unusual fatigue, persistent headache, or visual problems at any time tonight, I want you to report them to me immediately."

"Yes, Doctor," replied Wally.

Dr. Tyler came closer to Walter's bed. Roxanne stood and moved aside to let the doctor work. Dr. Tyler took Walter's blood pressure, heart rate, pulse and temperature making notes on Walter's patient record as he went along. "Well, your vitals are strong. I want to take a look at the dressing on your left temple as well as inspect the band-aid on your right arm. Make sure they don't need to be changed."

Wally looked to his right arm only now noticing the Band-Aid on the inside of his right arm. "Okay," he replied sitting up. He turned his right arm palm up so Dr. Tyler could examine the dressing.

Dr. Tyler put on the sterile gloves and carefully unwound the bandage around Walter's head placing it in a nearby bio-waste receptacle. He carefully inspected the gauze pad. It wasn't even partially soaked through meaning the wound was still bleeding but very slowly. He decided against changing the gauze for fear of disrupting any partially formed clotting fibers. He re-bandaged Walter's head before looking at Walter's right arm. The bleeding had stopped, but he decided to leave the band-aid on so as not to disrupt any partially formed scabs. He took off the gloves placing them in the bio-waste receptacle before saying, "Well, the dressings don't appear to need to be changed just yet. The wound on your left temple is slowly starting to stop bleeding, and the injury on your right arm has completely stopped bleeding. I'm going to leave the bandages for now. I don't want to disrupt any partially formed clotting fibers and risk causing your wounds to reopen. I'll check the dressings again tomorrow. You mentioned hearing the gun go off near your left ear. How **is **your left ear?"

"It doesn't hurt, but it's a little hard to hear out of it."

"O.K. What exactly are you having trouble hearing?"

"Well," replied Wally a bit uncomfortably. He knew his answer might upset Roxanne. "It's hard for me understand all of the words Roxanne's saying to me if she talks into that ear." He gave Roxanne a brief apologetic look. She nodded silently telling him that he had nothing to feel sorry about.

"Let me take a look at it," said Dr. Tyler.

Wally nodded.

Dr. Tyler pulled down an ear examination device and attached a disposable plastic piece to it. He switched on the light and stuck the device in Wally's left ear.

Wally bore the tugging and poking. After a few moments, Tyler pulled the scope out. He slipped the plastic throwaway off tossing it in a waste basket by the bed. Switching off the instrument's light, he reracked it and turned to Wally.

"Well?" asked Jack.

"Well," replied Dr. Tyler addressing not just Walter but his visitors as well. "the tympanic membrane--your eardrum--looks fine and I don't think there's any damage to the bone structures beyond that."

"So what are we talking about here?" asked Jack.

"Nerve damage," responded Tyler.

"'Nerve damage'?" repeated Wally uneasily.

"Yes," replied Tyler seriously. "My guess would be that it's probably in the organ of Corti--those sensory hair cells that make up the auditory epithelium." When he saw their worried looks, he tried to reassure them saying, "It's pretty common, actually. In fact, unless you live in a quiet forest and don't listen to music or have a TV, you're bound to lose some of your hearing. It's, unfortunately, just one of the costs of living in our mechanical society."

Wally gave the doctor a serious look as he silently thought to himself, 'Yeah, but I know a major benefit to our mechanical society as well.' He gave Automan a brief glance. Wally relaxed a little and briefly smiled at Auto as he caught Auto's small reassuring smile in return. He turned his attention back to the doctor when he heard the doctor continue, "Usually, it's gradual, and you don't notice it until it gets bad. Sometimes, though, after a very loud blast very close to the unprotected ear, the effect is very sudden and pronounced."

"Like a gun going off," replied Wally understanding.

"Yes."

"What can be done about it?" asked Roxanne.

"Well," considered Dr. Tyler. "I'll have an audiologist I know give you a hearing examination tomorrow. When we see what that shows, we'll know what we can do then. For right now, though, I want you to relax. If you don't suffer any of the aforementioned symptoms throughout the night, I'll get the hearing examination set up right away tomorrow and get your release papers ready right away."

Wally smiled knowing he wouldn't have to stay in the hospital for long. "Thank you, Dr. Tyler," replied Wally gratefully for the doctor setting up the hearing test for him. He was sort of nervous about what the results of the test would be but decided that he would focus his attention right now on currently enjoying his visit with Auto, Roxanne, and Jack.

"I'll let you visit with your friends," said Dr. Tyler before turning to leave. Just before reaching the door, he turned back to Walter.

"Something else, Doctor?" asked Walter.

"Just one thing," replied Dr. Tyler, a grin on his face. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't be back here as a patient for real?"

Wally immediately realized what Dr. Tyler was referring to and smiled himself. "Couldn't stay away from your caring services?" he asked with an amused grin on his face.

Tyler shook his head still smiling. His expression turned serious. "I want you to report to me right away if you experience any sudden abnormal dizziness, unusual fatigue, persistent headache, or visual problems."

"O.K., Doctor Tyler. I will," replied Wally just as seriously.

"Well, good day," said Dr. Tyler to Walter's guests before walking out of Walter's room.

Wally turned back to his visitors. Roxanne again sat down on the bed moving as close to him as she could without blocking his view of Jack or Auto. He again put his left hand on her left thigh, and she held onto his hand tenderly stroking the back of it as it gently rested on her hip. Wally turned his attention to Jack. "What happened to Tilson?"

"I had sent Roxanne to get Dr. Tyler just in case Tilson did hurt you. Agent Mann and I, then, came into the room shortly after he had shot you," replied Jack. "I managed to get him to surrender, and he is currently under arrest."

Wally sighed. He and Auto were finally out of danger from any more attacks from Tilson. "What happened after that?" he asked curiously.

"After Lt. Curtis arrested Tilson, I went to your side and tended to your left temple until Roxanne arrived with Dr. Tyler," said Automan taking up the conversation. "Between Dr. Tyler and myself, we lifted you off of the floor and onto the bed while Lt. Curtis kept pressure on your temple. Dr. Tyler treated the gunshot wound on your left temple and the sore on your right arm from the IV needle."

"Then, I woke up," guessed Walter.

"Yes," replied Auto.

"What's going to happen to Tilson?" asked Walter.

"Well, I got a chance to talk to the captain before I met back here with Roxanne and Agent Mann," replied Jack. "I told him about your condition here in the hospital." Wally nodded in gratitude. Jack continued, "I also asked him about what charges the DA plans on slapping on Tilson. He said he only had a preliminary report of the charges and they may not be complete based on the recent events. He said he'll know more tomorrow. So far, he's being charged with two counts of being an accomplice to the attempted murders of you and Agent Mann, one count--probably two counts when the DA gets done--of attempted murder on you, and one count of murder of his cell-mate Jones. By the time they get done tallying up all the charges, Tilson won't be getting out of jail at all."

Wally laid back down as he sighed, relief filling his every pore as he realized that Tilson would no longer be a threat. Roxanne turned to him, "You all right?"

He smiled up at her, the relief evident in his eyes. "Yes, I am now."

Their conversation turned to more uplifting topics until Wally started to doze off again. They bid their farewell to him and he slept the first really peaceful night since this whole nightmare with Tilson had started.

A/N: I will be updating this story hopefully every Sunday or Monday. Only 3 more chapters left! I hope you like the story so far! Keep those reviews coming, 'cause those are the things that keeps me going!


	18. Getting Released

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For the rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 18--Getting Released

Wally had slept very soundly last night without experiencing any of the symptoms Dr. Tyler had mentioned to him yesterday despite being woken up every so often by Dr. Tyler or a nurse. They told him it was to make sure they could wake him up. He had awoke early today. As nervous as he was about what the results of the hearing exam would show, he was still happy that he was going to be released today. He was looking forward to getting out of the hospital. There wasn't much for him to do in his room, so he had the television on low volume as mainly background noise. Every so often he'd find a channel that would mildly interest him and had turned up the volume a little. When there wasn't any interesting stations on--which was often, he kept the volume low and started to lightly doze--mostly from sheer boredom.

About three hours later, Wally had been lightly dozing when he heard the door open. He opened his eyes and looked to the door to see Jack, Roxanne, and Auto--disguised of course as Federal Agent Mann in a light blue shirt and navy blue three-piece suit--walk into the room. He smiled as they approached the bed.

"Good morning, Wally," said Jack.

"Good morning, Walter," said Auto.

Wally slid over in the bed so Roxanne could sit on the left edge of the bed. Before she sat down next to him, she bent over and whispered in his right ear making sure he heard her, "Good morning, love." She sat down on the left edge of the bed as close to him as she could, a faint smile playing across her lips as she saw the color slowly creeping up his face.

Wally could feel the heat rising in his neck upwards toward his face. He simply replied with a bit of embarrassment in his voice, "Good morning." He put his left hand on her left thigh, and she held onto his hand tenderly stroking the back of it as it gently rested on her hip.

Jack and Auto looked from Roxanne to Wally and back again with amused looks.

"**What **did you say to him?" asked Jack to Roxanne with amusement in his voice.

Roxanne gave them an innocent look and said, "I just told him 'Good morning.'" She conveniently left off her affectionate nickname for him.

"Uh huh. Then, why did he blush?"

"I don't know." She gave Jack her most innocent look.

"Hmm." Jack let the subject drop knowing he wasn't going to get Roxanne to tell him exactly what she had said to Wally. "How are you feeling?" asked Jack to Wally.

"Good. No nausea and the headache's gone," replied Wally, relieved when Jack changed the subject.

"Good," replied Jack. Auto nodded his affirmation as well.

"What other charges will Tilson be brought up on?" asked Wally changing the subject.

"The captain wanted to tell you the fate of Tilson himself," replied Jack. "so we'll just have to see when we get back to the station."

Wally nodded in understanding.

They talked for a few minutes about what Wally might have missed at the station before Dr. Tyler came in.

"Hello, Lt. Curtis, Agent Mann, Officer Caldwell" greeted Dr. Tyler.

"Hello, Dr. Tyler," replied Jack, Auto and Roxanne.

Dr. Tyler turned to Walter. "Good morning, Walter. I came to check on your progress. How's your head?" Roxanne stood and moved aside to let the doctor work. Dr. Tyler took Wally's blood pressure, heart rate, pulse and temperature making notes on Wally's patient record as he went along. He took out his penlight from his hospital smock and shined the light in Walter's eyes watching how his pupils reacted to the light. There was a slight delay in the irises constricting, which was to be expected.

"Good morning, Dr. Tyler," replied Wally squinting into the light. "The sore on my left temple is starting to hurt, but no headache or nausea."

"Good. Well, so far so good. Any dizziness, unusual fatigue, or visual impairments lately?"

"No. Just the minor pain where the bullet grazed my temple."

"I want to take a look at your left temple as well as inspect the sore on your right arm. Make sure the wounds didn't get infected." Wally nodded in understanding. Dr. Tyler continued, "How **is **your right arm, particularly where the IV was?"

"O.K. In fact, it's starting to itch a little."

"Good. Means it's starting to heal. Don't scratch at it or it won't heal."

"Okay."

"I'll be right back with some Tylenol for the pain and some materials to re-bandage the wound on your left temple and possibly on your right arm." Dr. Tyler saw Walter nod just before he left the room for a minute. He quickly returned with a small plastic cup with two pills in it and a glass of water. He held out the pills and water as he waited while Walter sat up saying, "This should help alleviate the pain."

Wally took the cup with the pills and glass of water and quickly swallowed the pills then the water. He handed the cup and glass back to the doctor, who placed them on the table.

Dr. Tyler took out topical wound cleaning and treatment medicine as well as wound binding materials and two pairs of sterile gloves from his hospital smock pockets placing them on the table within easy reach. He put on the sterile gloves and carefully unwound the bandage around Walter's head placing it in a nearby bio-waste receptacle. He gently removed the partially bloodied, partially pus encrusted gauze pad also placing it in the bio-waste receptacle. He examined the wound, which had stopped bleeding but looked a little inflamed. Wally winced as he delicately palpated the edges of the wound, which felt warmer than the rest of Walter's skin. Dr. Tyler gently cleaned the wound and around the wound causing Walter to wince again. He put some topical antibiotic on the wound and placed a large Band-Aid over the area. He took off the gloves placing them in the bio-waste receptacle and reached for the other pair of sterile gloves putting them on. He said, "Let me take a look at your right arm."

Wally turned his right arm palm up so Dr. Tyler could examine the sore. Wally winced as Dr. Tyler quickly and carefully peeled off the Band-Aid. Dr. Tyler cautiously palpated the wound. "This looks to be healing nicely. Any pain?" asked Dr. Tyler.

"No," replied Wally.

Dr. Tyler nodded. "I'm not going to re-bandage this one. It looks to be nearly healed." He took off the gloves placing them in the bio-waste receptacle before continuing, "Well, the wound on your left temple is a little infected. I've put some topical antibiotic over the wound before re-bandaging it, which should help reduce the pain as well. I'm also going to prescribe some mild broad-based antibiotics for you to take home. Nothing as strong as what you had for your shoulder. Just a precaution against infection. If the pain gets worse, you can take some over-the-counter Extra Strength Tylenol."

Wally nodded in understanding. The Band-Aid on his left temple felt a little odd having gotten used to the bandage around his head.

Dr. Tyler turned to Lt. Curtis. "Lieutenant, I would like you to inform the captain that I would like Walter to take today off from work and for him to keep Walter on light duty for the next couple of days as a precaution." Walter gave a disappointed pout at the news knowing it would mean being relegated to the computer room again. Now he would have to fight three times as much to get the captain to let him out on the streets now. He was just glad he would no longer have to deal with looking over his shoulder wondering when and where Tilson was going to strike again.

"Yes, Dr. Tyler. I'll be sure to tell him," replied Jack.

"Well, I'll get your release papers ready and bring them in for you to sign," said Dr. Tyler. He left the room.

A few minutes later, Dr. Tyler came back into the room with papers secured to a clipboard with a pen fastened to the top of the clipboard in his hand. "As soon as you sign these release forms, I can get them processed right away," he said. He handed the clipboard to Wally.

Wally nodded and took the forms. He skimmed over the papers soon realizing the doctor had again circled the areas he needed to sign. He quickly signed in the appropriate areas before handing the clipboard back to the doctor.

"The outfit you came in with is in that bag," said Dr. Tyler pointing to the plastic bag on the floor near the table near the left hand side of the bed. "Since everything else seems to check out, I'll have an on-staff audiologist who I know has an office right here in the hospital, a Dr. Gregory Zurik, set up a hearing exam today for you. When he's done, I'll know exactly what to do about your hearing problem. I'll talk with him right now, and I'm fairly certain that he'll be able to give you the exam this morning. Then, I'll be back with a wheelchair and the antibiotics." When he saw that Walter was going to argue with him over the wheelchair, he held up a hand. "I don't want to hear it. It's hospital policy. Now I'll get started talking to Dr. Zurik. That should give you enough time to get changed. While he's giving you the hearing exam, I'll get the papers processed and you'll be able to go home."

Wally nodded before saying, "Thank you, Dr. Tyler." He saw the doctor nod before leaving the room.

Wally shifted his position in the bed swinging his legs over the left side of the bed. He leaned forward and carefully stood leaning against the bed as a slight wave of dizziness hit him passing a couple of seconds later.

"Walter, are you all right?" asked Auto concerned. He, Jack, and Roxanne had all seen the unsteady look on Walter's face.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. I'm okay now."

Jack, Auto, and Roxanne nodded accepting his word.

Wally carefully bent down and picked up the plastic bag. He went into the bathroom. Five minutes later, he came out again dressed in a white shirt, his favorite pinstriped black tie, and a light gray business suit jacket over black slacks as well as white socks and his black work shoes. He went over to the bed and sat down on the left edge of the bed.

Roxanne came closer to the bed and sat on the edge close to Walter's right side. She took his right hand in her left hand. He held her hand in return. She leaned towards him to get his attention before asking, "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I probably just stood too quickly," he said trying to set her mind at ease. At her slightly unconvinced look, he said, "It was just a small spell of dizziness. I'm okay. Really." He squeezed her hand to reassure her and felt her squeeze his hand in return.

Dr. Tyler came back into the room guiding a wheelchair into the room. Jack and Auto made room for the doctor and the wheelchair as the doctor brought the wheelchair closer to the left side of the bed near Walter. He locked the wheelchair into place and folded up the foot plates. "Let me help you get into the wheelchair."

Wally nodded to the doctor remembering his recent bout of dizziness. He let go of Roxanne's hand. The doctor carefully supported Walter by holding Wally's right arm as Wally cautiously stood. This time the dizziness didn't last as long. Walter carefully shifted his position and lowered himself into the wheelchair. Once Wally was safely in the wheelchair, Dr. Tyler let go of Walter's right arm. He took a small prescription bottle out of the right pocket of his hospital smock and handed it to Walter, who put the small bottle in his right business jacket pocket. "These are the antibiotics. The prescription lasts a week and I want you to take all of it. The appointment is all set as well. His office is on the third floor at the end of the corridor. You should be able to go right up. He should be expecting you. If you're still unsure where to go after getting off the elevator, just ask one of the nurses. They can direct you to his office." Dr. Tyler paused before grinning as he added in a mildly amused tone, "Greg happens to be very popular with the nurses." He continued in a more serious tone, "Now, I'll go get started on processing your release forms so you can get out of here."

Wally gave the doctor a nod in understanding just before the doctor left the room. He saw Jack come and stand behind the wheelchair and unlock the breaks while keeping a firm grip on the handles. Wally heard Jack say from directly behind him, "Well, let's see exactly what's wrong with your ear and what can be done about it."

Wally nodded and Jack wheeled him to the elevators, which they took to the third floor, with Roxanne on his right holding his right hand and Auto on his left. Wally saw Automan walk up to one of the nurses and ask for directions to Dr. Gregory Zurik's office. Wally grinned as he saw the nurse nearly drool when she noticed Auto walking towards her. 'Looks like Dr. Zurik isn't the only one that could easily become popular with the nurses,' thought Wally silently with some amusement and even a little envy. Then again, the only woman he ever wanted to get excited about him was Roxanne anyway, which he obviously had as he again remembered the most amazing night and wonderful morning he had shared with her--and, frankly, wouldn't have minded sharing with her again.

They quickly found the doctor's office and entered. A medium-built man with light caramel skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes looked up as the entourage entered his office. He smiled in greeting and asked, addressing his question to Wally, "Mr. Nebicher, correct?"

"Yes, Dr. Zurik," replied Wally. "I was told by Dr. Tyler that you would be able to perform a hearing exam this morning."

"Yes." Zurik grinned as he looked over the group of people surrounding Nebicher's chair. "I see you've brought your convoy with you as well," said he with clear amusement in his voice.

Wally glanced around at Jack, Auto, and Roxanne with some embarrassment. He cleared his throat a little self-consciously and said, "These are my friends and colleagues." He gestured with his head and pointed behind him with his right thumb. "This is Lieutenant Jack Curtis."

Jack leaned to the side of the wheelchair--so he wasn't leaning directly over Wally--and extended his right hand towards the doctor, who stood and shook his hand revealing a tall, slim muscular build.

Wally looked to Automan next and said, "This is Federal Agent Otto Mann."

Auto shook hands with the doctor giving the doctor a slight shock.

Finally, Wally turned to his lover and said, "This is Officer Roxanne Caldwell." She also shook hands with the doctor.

Wally turned back to the doctor and asked with some uneasiness, "It's all right if they're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, as long as they remain quiet while I perform the exam, then I have no problem with them remaining." He added with a grin, "Besides, I'm sure they want to know what the exam turns up as well."

Wally saw Dr. Zurik turn and head to a table with a set of headphones and a wireless remote control with a single button on it. He grabbed the headphones and remote off of the table and brought both to Wally. He carefully placed the headphones on Wally's head and handed him the remote control. Wally saw Zurik head back to a computer control panel. Zurik turned and addressed Wally, "Okay, I'm going to generate some tones from the computer here. When you hear one, push the button."

"O.K.," replied Wally.

He did that for awhile, first one ear, then the other. At one point, Zurik introduced a roaring waterfall-like noise in his good right ear while he sent tones to his bad ear. Curious, he asked Zurik about that.

"What we're beginning to learn is that people with one weak ear tend to recruit their stronger ear to help out," explained Dr. Zurik. "They are not aware of this, of course. What actually happens is the sound is traveling through your head by way of bone conduction. In essence, you _think_ you're hearing a tone in you **right **ear when you're actually picking it up in the **left **ear, compensating without realizing it. So that ear is masked with white noise to prevent that."

After Wally pushed the button a bunch more times and Zurik made notes on a form in front of him, Zurik gave him another test that checked how loud a noise could get before it became painful.

The next test included a recorded voice that spoke certain words at various speeds and different volumes. Wally's task was to repeat back whatever he heard.

Finally, Zurik did a repeat of the tone test, then took the headphones off of him. Zurik walked to a printer hooked up to the computer, which had started printing out two graphs. After a few minutes, the printer finished and Zurik tore off the papers and approached Wally saying, "Well, Mr. Nebicher, we're all done. Here, have a look." He came beside the wheelchair and spread the charts out on Wally's lap. Auto and Roxanne came closer to Wally's wheelchair to see the charts as well. Jack, who was still standing behind Wally's wheelchair, looked over Wally's shoulder also studying the charts.

Zurik pointed to the first chart, which had one dark line labeled 'Normal' and a lighter line labeled 'R'. He said, "This dark line labeled 'Normal' represents the norms. The lighter 'R' line represents the result of the tests of your right ear." He pointed to the line labeled 'R' and said, "As you can see, you've dipped a little in the high ranges in your right ear, but your hearing is still pretty solid in the bass and mid range." He pointed to the other chart, which had a dark line labeled 'Normal' and lighter line labeled 'L'. He pointed to the lighter line and said, "As you can see in your left ear, you've dropped way down in the high and mid ranges."

Wally could see that easily enough. He heard Jack voice the same question that had been in his mind. "What does it mean?"

"Well," replied Zurik. "Dr. Tyler should really be the one discussing these results with you. He had told me he was going to get your release forms processed in the meantime and wanted me to send you down to his office when we were done here. In fact, I'll call his office right now and see if he's in there and let him know that you're heading down there." He went to his desk and picked up the receiver of the phone and dialed an internal number. After a few seconds, he said into the receiver, "John?" A short pause. "Yeah, it's Greg. I finished that test for Mr. Nebicher. He has the results with him right now and will be heading to your office shortly." Another short pause. "O.K." He hung up the phone and went to the computer console returning a few seconds later with the form that he had been filling out. He handed the form to Wally and said, "Well, he's in his office. His office is on the second floor in the adjoining corridor where the other resident physicians' offices are located west of the patient corridor. If you have trouble finding his office, just ask one of the nurses. They can direct you to the proper corridor. Take the charts with you as well as this form to him. He'll be able to explain the results of the hearing exam to you and be able to tell you what can be done about it."

"O.K.," replied Wally gathering up the charts and form on his lap into a neat pile. "Thank you, Dr. Zurik, for seeing me so quickly."

"You're welcome," replied Zurik with a smile. "Well, good luck." He briefly bid them all farewell before shaking hands with Wally, Jack, Auto, and Roxanne. They exited his office again heading for the elevators taking the elevator to the second floor. They stopped at a nurses station with Auto again asking which way the physicians' offices were located. Following the directions one of the nurses had given them, they quickly found the corridor and slowly went down the corridor finding Dr. Tyler's office a minute later. They entered the office.

Dr. Tyler was sitting at the desk going over some forms when they came in. He put the forms away and got up going around his desk, approaching the group. Wally held out the forms to Tyler, who took them. He skimmed them over for a second before looking to Walter. "Well, how did the exam go?"

"Okay, I guess," replied Wally with a small shrug. He was still a tad nervous about the results. "He had shown us the charts and gave us a general idea of how my hearing had been affected, but he said that you would be able to further explain the results to me."

Tyler nodded and again looked to the form on top. He briefly studied the charts before again studying the form for another minute.

Wally patiently waited for Tyler's explanation with increasing uneasiness. What if his hearing couldn't be repaired? What would happen then? How exactly would that effect his job performance? Finally, Wally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, "What do the results mean?"

"Well," replied Tyler. "The results show that not only would you have trouble hearing the lovely Officer Caldwell here, but you'd have trouble hearing other people talk, or the phone ring, or any high notes on your old phonograph records. They also show why. It's pretty clear Tilson damaged your hearing."

Wally frowned. He expected that, of course, but he still didn't like hearing it. Roxanne asked the same questions he was going to ask, "Will it heal? Will it get any better at all?"

Tyler shook his head. "No. Not on it's own."

"What about fixing it, either medically or surgically?" asked Jack.

Wally nodded adding, "Is that an option?"

Tyler again shook his head. "No, not in this case. It's just not that bad of a loss to warrant a cochlear implant. In fact, you've have to be almost completely deaf for that. Also, there is no known medicine that will heal them. It's a lot like scar tissue in that regard, really."

"Well, there must be **some **way you can help him," said Roxanne trying to be optimistic.

"Yes, actually, there is a way for you to hear pretty much like you did before," replied Tyler.

"How?" asked Wally latching onto the vague ray of hope.

"Electronic augmentation," responded Tyler.

Wally's stomach twisted at that. 'A hearing aid,' he thought glumly. He wasn't even in his thirties, yet. He sure as heck wasn't ready for some big, ugly lump behind his ear. He shook his head as he tried to push away the slowly forming mental image.

Tyler could tell what he was thinking. He had come across this countless times before. Tyler opened a drawer, reached into it, and pulled out a device exactly like what Wally pictured himself having to wear. As big as his thumb, it was a big, pale, fleshy-colored thing, with a clear plastic hook on the end. It looked like a little oil can.

Wally shook his head again after gazing at the device for a couple of seconds. If he wore that, he might as well yell to everyone at the station as well as wear a neon sign around his neck saying: 'Yell at me! I'm deaf!'

"This is what we use for patients with major hearing loss," stated Tyler. He opened the drawer replacing the device back in the drawer. He continued, "however, your hearing loss is not that bad. There is a research lab I know of that is experimenting with hearing aids that are much smaller than that but just as effective. In fact, they're actually looking for someone with just your type of hearing loss. If you're willing to participate in their research and try one of their prototypes, I'm sure I can get the person in charge of the particular project to agree to loaning the device to you for a reasonable price with a warranty."

Wally wasn't exactly too keen on the idea of being anyone's guinea pig for a new prototype, but he knew that he would require his hearing to function productively while on the job also he wanted to make sure he heard everything that Roxanne was saying to him--no matter how embarrassed she tended to make him sometimes. He nodded his head saying, "All right. If the person in charge of the project agrees and the price and warranty are reasonable, I'll participate in the research and try one of the prototypes."

Tyler nodded and went to his desk picking up the receiver of the phone on his desk. He dialed an outside number. After a minute, he said into the receiver, "Hello. I would like to speak with Dr. Sophie Zyra, please." A pause. "Dr. John Tyler." Another pause. "It's regarding her current hearing aid prototype that she mentioned to me a week ago." A pause. "Thank you." The wait was a little longer. "Hello, Sophie?" A pause. "Yes, it's Dr. John Tyler. I just found you a willing participant for your research with that new prototype you mentioned." A pause. "Well, I can have him come down today, but two of his conditions are that you offer to loan the prototype to him for a reasonable price and warranty." Another pause. "Walter Nebicher." Another pause. "Okay, thanks, Sophie." Dr. Tyler blushed a little at Sophie's grateful reply before saying, "Bye." He hung up the phone and turned to Walter. "Okay, she said she would be willing to meet with you today if that's all right with you?"

"Sure," replied Wally not really having anywhere else to go today anyway since the doctor had wanted him to take the day off from work.

"Okay." Tyler grabbed a small writing tablet and pen from his desk and jotted down the address of the place and directions from the hospital to the research lab. "Here's the address of the research lab and directions on how to get there from here." He ripped the small parchment from the pad and handed it to Walter, who looked over the instructions. Tyler leaned up against his desk and said, "Well, the paper work is all complete and you're free to go. Just remember to pace yourself and get plenty of rest, because you might be more susceptible to fatigue," advised Dr. Tyler. "Return to your normal activities gradually, not all at once. Also, don't neglect your basic needs such as eating well and getting enough rest." He paused before instructing, "If you at any time experience any sudden abnormal dizziness, unusual fatigue, persistent headache, or visual problems, I want you to report back here immediately. Also, I know you drove here in your car yesterday, but I would like someone else to drive you to the research lab and home today. You can come and pick up your car tomorrow."

"Yes, Doctor," replied Wally. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," replied Tyler with a smile. He gave Walter a last word of caution, "Remember, if you experience any sudden abnormal dizziness, unusual fatigue, persistent headache, or visual problems at any time, I want you to report back here immediately."

"I will," responded Wally.

The doctor nodded at Wally's acknowledgement just before Wally felt Jack unlock the brakes on the chair while still maintaining a firm grip on the handles. "Ready?" asked Jack.

"Yes," replied Wally. He silently thought, 'More than ready.'

Roxanne again held Wally's right hand after they exited the doctor's office. As soon as they were safely outside of the office, she said, "Let's just hope this is the last time we're here."

Wally nodded in agreement. He'd had enough of the hospital for some time.

They arrived outside of the hospital with Jack pushing the wheelchair, Roxanne on Wally's right holding his right hand, and Auto on Wally's left.

Jack stopped the wheelchair outside the door by the curb, and Wally felt Jack lock the wheels.

"I'll drive Walter to the research lab and, then, home. I have to head to his apartment anyway," offered Auto.

"I don't know," replied both Wally and Jack simultaneously with uncertainty. Wally knew how Auto usually drove and realized he wasn't up to being manhandled in the Autocar. Jack also remembered the hair turns Agent Mann tended to make when he drove. He didn't think Wally could handle all the tossing around he would be subjected to.

Wally saw Auto give a slight pout at their insecurity in his ability to drive slowly without subjecting Wally to a lot of jostling before Auto quickly reassured both of them, "I'll drive carefully. I promise."

Wally relaxed when Auto promised. He knew Automan would keep that promise.

Jack wasn't so sure. "I still don't know."

"It's okay, Jack. If Agent Mann promised to drive carefully, I believe he truly will," said Wally. Auto smiled at Walter's confidence in him.

"All right. It's your decision," conceded Jack.

"I'll be right back," said Auto. Auto quickly walked to where he had parked the Autocar. He climbed in, quickly yet carefully backed the Autocar out of the parking space, brought the car in front of Walter and parked.

Roxanne let go of Wally's hand. Wally kicked the foot plates up and slid forward in the seat. He put his right arm across her shoulders. Roxanne reached under Wally's open business jacket wrapping her left arm around his waist. With Roxanne's support, Wally hoisted himself out of the wheelchair using his left arm. He leaned against her for a second as a slight wave of dizziness hit him passing as quickly as it came.

Wally let go of Roxanne's shoulders and gently squeezed her right hand in gratitude. She returned the squeeze. He walked to the passenger door of the Autocar, opened the door and climbed in closing the door after him. Jack and Roxanne both watched as the Autocar slowly pulled away from the curb heading towards the parking lot exit. They were just glad both men were alright and no longer in any danger of suffering another attack by Tilson.


	19. Electronic Augmentation

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For the rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 19--Electronic Augmentation

A sleek, fast, luminescent sports car pulled into the visitor's parking lot of a long, white, single-story building with a lighted sign in front that read "Innovative Hearing Solutions, Inc." and parked. The gull wing doors swung up, and Walter and Automan got out. They headed to the main entrance doors entering into a spacious, off-white lobby with what looked like a waiting area off to their right. Wally looked around for some kind of 'general information' desk. Suddenly, he spotted a light brown rectangular desk five feet in front of him and Auto with a sign "General Information" attached to the front of the desk. He walked towards the desk. He saw Auto keeping pace beside him as he approached the desk.

A young woman with long wavy black hair pulled into a loose ponytail and blue eyes looked up from the task she had been working on on the computer. "Hello," greeted the receptionist. "How can I help you?"

"Hello," greeted Wally in return. "Walter Nebicher to see a Dr. Sophie Zyra about a hearing aid prototype."

"O.K." The assistant picked up the receiver of a phone sitting on a lower ledge of the desk just below the main counter. She dialed an internal number. After a pause, she said into the receiver, "Dr. Zyra, there's a Walter Nebicher here to see you about a hearing aid prototype." She paused as she listened to the doctor's response. "O.K. He has another gentleman with him." She paused again before looking up at Auto and asking, "And you are?"

"Otto Mann," replied Auto.

"Otto's my associate," briefly explained Wally. "The doctor that referred me to your facility, a Dr. John Tyler, knows him as well."

The receptionist studied Auto for a few seconds. Auto gave her his most charming smile in return. She said into the receiver, "He says his name is Otto Mann. Mr. Nebicher says Mann's his associate and that the doctor that referred him knows Mr. Mann as well." She paused as she listened to the doctor's reply. "O.K. I'll have them escorted down there right away." She hung up the phone and said, "She'll meet you in her office. I'll have someone from security paged down to escort you to her office."

"Thank you," replied Wally gratefully.

She picked up the receiver and again dialed a different internal number. After a few seconds, she said, "Yes, this is the front desk. I need someone sent down for an escort to Dr. Zyra's office." A beat. "Thank you."

A few minutes later, a young man with light brown hair and green eyes wearing a security uniform approached the desk. He turned to the receptionist and asked, "You paged for an escort to Dr. Zyra's lab?"

"Yes. Mr. Nebicher,"--she pointed to Wally--"and his associate Mr. Mann"--she pointed to Auto"require an escort to Dr. Zyra's office."

"Yes, ma'am," replied the young man. He turned to Wally and Auto and said, "If you'll follow me."

Wally and Auto nodded and followed the guard along an adjacent corridor, past different rooms with various electronic devices and computers in them. Wally and Auto briefly glanced into each room they passed intrigued as to what was in each room. Curious as to what the rooms were, Wally asked the security officer about them. The young man said they were different research labs. Wally and Auto silently looked around them with awe as they followed the guard the rest of the way to Zyra's lab/office.

Before long, they reached a medium-sized office with white walls like the corridor. A young woman with straight brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and glasses sat behind a medium wooden desk with a single personal computer and a telephone on it inspecting and modifying a diagram laid out across her desk. She looked up as she saw them enter her office. She excused the guard with a nod of her head. She stood up revealing a trim, medium 5'7" build and came around the desk with her hand outstretched towards Wally. "Hi, Dr. Sophie Zyra. Walter Nebicher, correct?"

"Yes," answered Wally. He shook her hand and indicated Auto with his head. "This is my friend and associate Federal Agent Otto Mann."

"Pleased to meet you, Agent Mann," said Zyra holding out her hand to him.

"My pleasure," replied Auto gently taking her hand, bringing it closer to his mouth, and lightly kissing it before releasing her hand.

"Well, since the introductions are out of the way," said Zyra. "let me show you the prototype." She went back around her desk and took a key ring out of her pants pocket. She unlocked a drawer and reached inside it. When she brought her hand back out, she opened it showing them a tiny, chocolate colored button, no bigger than Wally's little finger. "This is the most state-of-the-art prototype we have designed," she stated proudly. "A one hundred percent digital, multichannel, multiprogrammable MC--for mini-canal--signal processing auditory enhancement device. Digital feedback reduction, noise reduction, gain processing, and compression." When she saw Nebicher's and Mann's awed looks, she continued proudly, "This little prototype has a preamplifier, a 23-bit analog-to-digital converter with 138 decibel dynamic range. The processor chip, which is a prototype itself, runs one hundred and fifty million operations per second with all digital output to the transducer."

"150 million operations per second," softly said Wally with awe. He and Auto could only stare at the technological marvel.

"One downfall is the battery is only good for about a week," said Zyra. "then it will have to be replaced, but it can be programmed to your specific hearing loss and cross-coupled to separate channels. What that means is . . ."

"If Walter is in a crowded room full of people talking," said Automan understanding right away. "he'll be able to hear the person next to him when he or she talks."

"Exactly," replied Zyra with a new admiration for Agent Mann. She looked at him with some confusion. "How did you learn of this prototype? It's only been out for a week."

"I did some research on hearing aids and what new innovations were coming out as soon as I found out about Walter's hearing loss," replied Auto. "My research led to an article about your company and the newest advancements your company was researching."

Zyra looked at Mann impressed. When she happened to glance to Nebicher, she saw his impressed look at Mann as well. She said to Mann, "I'm impressed. Not many people take the time to research the new hearing aid technology coming out."

Auto just replied by giving her a pleased look at her compliment.

Zyra continued, "And if you want to listen to music at home alone, you push this little button here and it will shift to a different frequency so you can hear the high notes. Watch." She turned away from them, did something Wally couldn't see, then looked back at them. "I have one in my ear. Can you see it?"

Wally and Auto looked. "No," said both.

"Right, and you're actually looking for it." Zyra addressed her next statements to Nebicher. "Nobody--with the exception of Agent Mann here and your friends who learned about your hearing loss in the hospital--will know you're wearing it unless you lean over and point it out to them. Best of all, it will bring your hearing pretty close to what it was before. Not perfect, but not far off either."

"Wow," said Wally.

"Impressive," said Auto.

She grinned. "Yes, sir." She addressed her next statements to Nebicher. "We squirt a little rubbery goop in your ear canal, let it set, then take a mold from that so it can be custom fitted."

"Nice," commented Wally.

She smiled and nodded before continuing, "You just tuck it in every morning--if you choose to take it out when you sleep." She shrugged and said, "You don't really have to. It's all automatic after that. You'll want to remove it to shower, though. These things aren't really waterproof, but if you get caught in the rain, it will be okay." She pulled the device out of her ear. "See, here's how you turn it off. Open the battery door like this. When you need to change the battery, just pop it out like so. Put a new one in, close it, and its ready to rock."

Wally had to admit he was really impressed. When he glanced to Automan, he saw an impressed expression on Auto's face as well. He turned his attention back to Zyra and grinned before asking with amusement in his voice, "And how many loans am I going to have to take out to afford this little technological marvel?"

Zyra gave a small smile and said, "Well, if they perform as well as we anticipate they will, we're considering retailing them for about fifty-eight hundred, fifty-nine hundred, but because your willing to participate in our testing of the devices before we market them, I'm fairly certain I can get you approved for a loan with only a ten percent down payment, which means you'd pay five hundred eighty dollars, give or take. You can buy the batteries at Costco for about fifty cents each. I can also get you approved for a maintenance and loss insurance warranty free for two years, and seventy-five dollars a year thereafter."

Wally contemplated her offer for a few seconds. The hearing aid she had shown both him and Auto was an absolute marvel of engineering, and the offer sounded very nice. He wasn't too enthusiastic about the amount of the loan he'd have to pay back, but the insurance and maintenance plan sounded pretty good. He considered the possibility of having the price of his--he shuddered as he realized he would be wearing one so early in his life--hearing aid being added to the invoice for the upgrade/maintenance/repair of the computer system at the station. He knew that would mean having to get the captain to approve the added expenditure as well as revealing to the captain that he **was **wearing a hearing aid. Not a particularly pleasant thought. Before he sought the captain's approval, he decided to see if the research facility would accept such a payment arrangement. He looked to Zyra and asked, "Would your company be willing to send an invoice to the LAPD?"

"'Invoice the LAPD'?" echoed Zyra confused.

"Yes," replied Wally. At her still perplexed look, Wally explained, "If I can get the captain to approve of the added expenditure, I'm certain I can get it added to the billing for the computer system at the station."

Zyra thought over his question for a few seconds before answering, "Well, your request is a little unusual, but if your captain approves it, I know I'll be able to get it invoiced over to the station."

"Great," said Wally with some enthusiasm. Having the bill footed by the government sure would ease his expenditures.

"Well, since we've come to an agreement on payment arrangements, let me show you a little more about the hearing aid," said Zyra.

"Okay," replied Wally. He saw Automan nod.

Zyra brought the prototype closer for Wally and Auto to more closely inspect. 'It's so small,' thought Wally. It certainly didn't look very impressive. He looked up to Zyra and asked, "And this will really help improve my hearing?"

"Yes, sir," she said with confidence. "I believe it will."

"Huh," replied Wally. He glanced to Automan to see his impressed expression as well.

She continued addressing her statements mostly towards Nebicher, "I'll get you an instruction manual we've devised for you to take home, but the basics are pretty simple. If you pull this little door open, you can see where the battery goes."

Wally took it from her and did as she suggested. He could sense Auto take a step closer behind him to look over his shoulder at the small device. At first, he was afraid he might drop it. It was so small. In fact at one point, his hands fumbled and he did drop it. Luckily, Auto had seen Walter fumble it and had reached around Walter's waist cupping his hands directly below Walter's, managing to catch the mechanism. Wally briefly thanked him, to which Auto nodded and carefully handed the device back to Walter, removing his arms from around Walter's waist and looking to Walter with a look that silently said 'Don't drop it again.' Wally smiled sheepishly at Auto and silently nodded. Slowly and carefully, Wally managed to get the hang of it. He frowned when he saw the button-style battery. It was about half the size of an aspirin tablet, and Wally knew he would need to use tweezers just to load and unload the battery.

"That's also how you turn it off at night," explained Zyra. "Just open the door and take out the battery. We've found that by keeping the battery in its case with the silicon granule packet to dry it out helps to protect the battery. In the morning, pop it back in, close the door, and you're ready to go. Try it."

Wally gave her a look of thanks and silently looked to her for help on how to insert the hearing aid into his ear.

Zyra took out her own and showed him how to put it in while she explained, "It helps if you pull your ear out with one hand and use your thumb to shove it in."

Wally noticed a button on top and asked, "What's this button on top for?"

"Changes the channel. Put it in, and I'll show you."

Wally had a little bit of trouble inserting the hearing aid at first. After he remembered back to how he had inserted the ear plugs at the shooting range at the academy, he managed to figure out how to insert the device. He wasn't sure what he exactly expected to hear, but he was just a tiny bit disappointed. He didn't notice any changes at first. He frowned.

Auto noticed Walter's frown and asked, "What is it?"

Wally held up his hand for their silence as he concentrated on what sounded like faint music. Was there a radio nearby? He shook his head. No, someone was _softly whistling a tune _. . .

He turned to look, and saw someone through the window in the door walk past the office whistling. He grinned.

Zyra leaned forward and looked into his ear. "Nice fit. Shake your head."

He did. It didn't move in his ear at all.

"It won't fall out by accident," she said. "In fact, it'll take a little effort to remove it. Some people have problems with that." She leaned back and rustled a paper at him. It sounded very loud, and she knew it, too. Wally could tell by the way she smiled at him when she saw him blink at the noise. "You expected to hear some kind of roaring sound when you put it in, didn't you, like the wind or static or something? Maybe some feedback squeal, like a cheap PA system?"

Wally grinned a little self-consciously and admitted, "Yeah, I did."

She smiled again. "What it's supposed to do is make your bad ear work like the good one. It won't be perfect, but it should seem as if both ears are working better. You'll be able to pinpoint sound location better, too."

He nodded in understanding.

"That button you mentioned?" she went on. "Reach up and push it."

He did and heard two soft beeps.

"Again," she instructed.

He heard only a single beep this time.

"One beep is the normal mode," explained Zyra. "That's the default when you turn it on in the morning. The second channel, the two-beeper, is for very loud environments, those with a lot of background noise. In the two-beep mode, it will pump mid-ranges, like most speech, but not the hum of your computer drive or car's engine. All you have to do is toggle back and forth until you get it where you want it." She reached over and snapped her fingers by his good ear. "Cover this ear," she suddenly instructed.

He did so.

She snapped her fingers by the one with the aid in it before asking, "Sound about the same?"

"Yes," said Wally.

"Good. Now pop it out," she instructed. When she saw him struggle to take out the aid, she advised, "It'll help if you come underneath, use your thumb, and pry a little."

He removed the device. She was right. It had taken some effort for him to pry it out. Good, that just meant that there would be less chance of this expensive little prototype falling underfoot and getting trampled on.

"Now let me see it," she instructed.

He handed it to her.

She went back to her desk, dug in the drawer again, and came back with a small cylindrical object with a wire brush on one end and a small pointed end on the other and a small plastic pouch not much bigger than the mechanism itself. She addressed her statements to Nebicher but showed both how to take care of the device. "Here's a little wire loop tool, to clean the wax out of the speaker channel, like so. Hold it angled down, so the wax falls out, see. And you can use the little plastic poker, right here, to clean out the air channel, that's this hole here. Don't clean anything else, except with a little brush, or maybe wiping it with a soft cloth. No cleaners, no soap, no water. Don't shower or go swimming with it in, you don't want to get it wet. A hat should protect you in the rain, a drop or two probably won't hurt anything, but if it looks like you're going to be soaked, stick it into this little waterproof packet and put it in your pocket until you get somewhere dry."

He nodded again in understanding.

"I want you to wear it for a couple of days," said Zyra. "go on about your business as usual, then, come back. We can adjust it if something is too loud or harsh or not loud enough. It only takes a few minutes to do that. I just hook it up to my computer here and--using a specially designed program created to specifically interface with the new microchip--program the changes." She handed it back to him, and he put it back in his ear. She continued, "You'll have to change the battery about once a week. I'll give you a package of spares, and a little holder you can carry a couple around in. Don't drop it on the floor if you can help it, or in the bathtub. Like I said before, if you lose it or break it's covered for two years." She grinned before adding with a hint of amusement in her voice, "By then, we'll probably have a new prototype designed and being tested anyway."

Wally shrugged saying, "Sounds simple enough."

"It's not particle physics. If you can stick your finger in your ear, you can use one of these models." She paused briefly studying Nebicher for a second before asking with a mischievous look in her brown eyes and a slightly playful grin playing across her lips, "Are you a betting man, Mr. Nebicher?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. He briefly glanced to Auto to see Auto's confused look as well.

"I'll wager ten dollars that nobody--with the exception of Agent Mann here and your friends at the hospital who already know about your hearing loss-- notices you're wearing it unless you point it out to them," she challenged.

"You sure are pretty confident in yourself and the prototypes," replied Wally.

She nodded. "Like I told you, it's not visible from the front, and you can't see it from the back. The only way someone might possibly spot it is if he or she were looking directly at you from the side, and even then, most people don't look at your ears."

He grinned at her before asking, "Do you make this bet with everyone who agrees to participate in testing the prototypes?"

She nodded again. "Everyone who is helping test this particular model. In fact, I usually bet them twenty bucks, not ten, but you're a tough case. Cops, federal agents, those folks who automatically mark you for purposes of ID, they're the kind of people you work with, correct?"

"Yes. I am a police officer," replied Wally.

"That's what I figured," she stated.

"Great," said Wally softly with sarcasm. He was still fighting to gain recognition for his contributions in helping to solve cases and get the captain to let him handle a few cases on his own. With everything that's happened recently with Tilson, he knew he would have a tough enough time as it was trying to get the captain to let him out on the streets. He was certain the captain would be even more reluctant to let him out on the streets or even handle his own cases if everyone at the station found out about his hearing loss.

At seeing Nebicher's slightly disappointed look, she tried to cheer him up a little saying, "Even so, it's better than going 'Eh, sonny, what's that?' all the time, isn't it?"

He felt a little stab of vanity and said, "Yeah, well, that's easy for you to say."

She suddenly went very serious. She looked at him silently, not smiling at all. After a moment, she gave a small nod and turned her head to the side so both he and Auto could see her right ear. Then she turned to show them the left. She had the hearing aid prototypes in _both _ears. "One of the reasons I decided to dedicate my whole life to researching new hearing aid technology was because of a nasty virus I had when I was a child. It caused a high fever and burned out part of the wiring in both ears. I've worn hearing aids since I was ten."

Wally instantly regretted his last statement and apologized, "I'm sorry, Dr. Zyra."

"Don't be," she reassured him. "I'm not. Not any more, anyway. These things really do work great, Mr. Nebicher."

He sighed. She was right. A little piece of plastic, circuitry, and a computer chip sure beat the alternative, no doubt about it. He shook her hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let me get someone from security to escort you to the main entrance."

"Okay."

Zyra went to her desk, picked up the receiver of a phone on her desk and dialed an internal number. After a few seconds she said into the receiver, "Hi, this is Dr. Sophie Zyra. I need someone to escort Mr. Nebicher and his guest Mr. Mann to the main entrance." She waited a beat before saying, "Thank you." She hung up the receiver and turned to both young men saying, "A security guard should be here soon to escort you back to the main lobby."

Wally and Auto silently nodded to her in gratitude.

After a few minutes, the same security guard that had originally escorted them to Zyra's lab came into the lab. "You paged for an escort, Dr. Zyra?" asked the young man.

"Yes, for Mr. Nebicher here and his guest Mr. Mann."

"Okay," said the young man.

"Thank you again," replied Wally to Zyra.

She nodded and said, "I'll see you in a couple of days. Just remember to try not to get it wet."

Wally nodded before turning to the guard. Seeing that both Nebicher and Mann were ready to leave, he said, "If you'll follow me." They silently gestured for him to lead the way with Wally softly humming to himself. Auto turned to Walter when he heard Walter's soft humming but only smiled.

A/N: One more chapter left! Just a FYI for ya. love those reviews so please keep them coming!


	20. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Don't own Automan. (Boy do I wish I did, though! ) Don't own Tron, either. (Any "Tron"-like elements are a part of my very overactive imagination. ) For the rest of my disclaimer see chapter one.

Ch. 20—Epilogue

Two days later, Wally had gone back to the research facility and had the hearing aid reprogrammed. He was now in the captain's office of the LAPD building with Jack, Auto, and Roxanne. (Wally had called Automan knowing Auto would want to know Tilson's fate as well and had him follow Wally into the captain's office—disguised of course as Federal Agent Mann.) Wally briefly wondered if the captain would notice his hearing aid during the debriefing at all. He had shown the hearing aid to Jack and Roxanne seeing how they already knew about his hearing loss. The captain hadn't known about his hearing loss, and Wally got Jack to promise to let him tell the captain. Jack had reluctantly agreed. They watched as the captain studied the report from the DA concerning all the charges brought against Tilson.

Captain Boyd looked up from the report, his attention focusing on Nebicher as he briefly studied Nebicher's condition. Nebicher was sitting in the chair across from the captain's desk, a fresh, large band-aid over his left temple. Nebicher's eyes were clear, bright, and responsive as he looked back at the captain. Boyd shifted his attention to the others making sure to meet each of their eyes before saying, "I just received this updated report from the DA's office. According to the report, Tilson's going to be brought up on two charges of being an accomplice to the attempted murders of Agent Mann and Nebicher thanks to the confession Agent Mann got from Sanders shortly before he was executed. He is also going to be brought up on two additional charges of attempted murder against Nebicher for the rewiring of the console and his attempt in the hospital and one count of murder for the murder of his cell mate Jones. After Nebicher talked to the DA's office yesterday, he is also tacking on two counts of tampering with federal property—one for tampering with the computers here and the other for trying to corrupt some high level federal program. He is also being brought up on lesser charges of breaking out of jail and possession of an illegal firearm.

"The number on the gun had been partially rubbed off and it took the DA's office some time to figure out where the gun came from, but they were able to trace it back to rundown shop in downtown LA. The proprietor has been placed under arrest as well and is being charged with selling a gun to a known felon.

"Tilson won't be getting out of jail for some time. If the DA has anything to say about it, Tilson will be spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison under close guard." The captain looked up from the report, "Good work, all of you. I was wary of this plan from the start, but you managed to pull it off and get Tilson in the end. I'll make sure you all receive commendations."

"Thank you, Captain," replied all four.

"Well, it was Wally's idea that finally put Tilson where he belonged behind bars," said Jack.

Wally smiled while looking a little self-conscious at Jack's praise. "I didn't do it alone," replied Wally trying to spread some of the recognition around.

"It was definitely a team effort," said Auto.

"Well, I'm just glad Tilson's no longer going to be a threat to either of you again," said Roxanne with relief, a smile on her face as she stood next to Walter with her right hand lightly resting on his back.

"Agreed," said Jack.

"Well, that's it," said the captain. "Let's get back to work."

Jack, Auto, Wally, and Roxanne all nodded and started filing out of the captain's office.

"Nebisher, if you could stay behind a minute," said Captain Boyd.

Confused as to what the captain wanted, Walter turned and replied, "Yes, sir."

Jack, Auto, and Roxanne all turned back to Wally, mild concern written on their faces as they all wondered why the captain wanted Walter to stay behind. They were worried the captain was going to get on Wally's case for putting himself in such danger.

Wally gave them all a reassuring smile before saying, "I'll meet you in the computer room."

Wally saw them all nod before heading towards the computer room. He turned back to the captain. "Yes, Captain?"

"I can't say I'm pleased with the approach you used to bring down Tilson, but I just wanted to personally tell you: Good job, kid."

"Thank, you, sir," responded Wally, smiling at the captain's unexpected praise. "Anything else, Captain?"

"Yes, one more thing. The spare parts you ordered for you high-priced hardware came in today. I had them deliver the parts to the computer room."

"Speaking of the computer, I have a request, Captain," said Wally a little uneasily not sure whether or not the captain would agree to his request.

"What request?" asked Boyd a bit wary.

Wally started out by slowly explaining, "Sir, my recent confrontation with Tilson did have on other adverse affect on me other than the concussion and gash on my temple."

"What kind of 'adverse affect'?" asked Boyd with some worry despite himself.

"Hearing in my left ear was affected when Tilson's gun went off near my left ear. I now have to wear a hearing aid in that ear," stated Wally anxiously.

Boyd looked at Nebicher's left ear but couldn't see any hearing aid. "What hearing aid?" he asked when he couldn't spot one.

Wally turned his head to the side and pointed out the small prototype in his left ear canal. "This one, sir."

Boyd studied the small hearing aid with some wonder. He looked to Nebicher and asked, "What does your hearing loss have to do with your request?"

"Well, sir," replied Wally apprehensively. He paused as he contemplated on the best way to approach his request. "I want to request that the expenditure for the hearing aid be included in the invoice for the upgrade/maintenance/repair of the computer.'

Boyd was silent for a short while as he considered Nebisher's request. After a minute, he looked to Nebicher and asked, "Why should I have it included with the expenditure for your high-priced hardware?"

"Well, sir," responded Wally a tad uneasily. "there's a microchip prototype contained within the hearing aid prototype. I am helping to test the microchip prototype."

"I see," said Boyd contemplatively. He leaned back in the seat considering Nebisher's request. "Well, I'll have to make a few phone calls to get the expenditure approved, but…" He paused mulling over whether or not he'd be able to get the necessary approval before continuing, "I think I'll be able to get it approved."

Wally smiled at the news and enthusiastically said, "Thank you, Captain."

Boyd couldn't help but smile in return at the enthusiastic smile on Nebisher's face. "Get going. I'm sure Curtis, Caldwell, and Agent Mann are all waiting for you in the computer room."

"Yes, sir," said Wally smiling as he left the captain's office. He walked to the computer room to find Jack, Auto, and Roxanne waiting for him in the computer room. He saw some boxes neatly stacked off to the side near the door. 'Those must be the spare components the captain mentioned,' thought Wally. He walked further into the computer room standing close to Roxanne. Her left hand inconspicuously slipped into his right hand.

"What was that all about?" asked Jack seeing the energetic expression on Wally's face.

"The captain just wanted to give me some personal praise," said Wally simply, with a small shrug of his shoulders. "He also informed me that the spare parts I had requested five days ago had come in. I also requested if he could get the cost of the hearing aid prototype included with the invoice for the upgrading and maintenance of the computer system. He told me he thought he'd be able to."

"It is well deserved praise," said Auto. "Because of your plan, we were able to capture Tilson."

"Yeah," replied Wally a little uneasily, remembering all the pain he and Auto went through before capturing Tilson.

Roxanne noticed Wally's unease and attempted to lighten the mood. "I'm just glad you two are both okay."

"Yes," agreed Jack. "Well, I'll let you get to work." He walked out of the computer room.

Roxanne turned to Wally. "I'll let you get to work as well." She paused remembering the doctor's advice to Wally. "Wally, just remember to pace yourself, or you'll tire yourself out."

"I will," replied Wally.

Just before she turned to leave, she whispered in his left ear seeing if the hearing aid would pick up her whisper, "Besides, **I** want to be the reason you get worn out."

It obviously had as Wally's face tinged pink. He watched Roxanne walk out of the computer room with an embarrassed grin on his face.

Auto smiled as he noticed Walter's embarrassed look and grin but didn't say anything. When Walter turned back to him, he offered, "Let me help you repair the console. That way you'll be less susceptible to getting tired."

Wally nodded to Auto. He considered how things had turned out while both he and Auto carefully unpacked the boxes and set about organizing the various components.

Automan was back to what passes for 'normal' for Auto. They finally eliminated Tilson as a threat. The captain had personally given him praise. And best of all, Roxanne was madly in love with him. 'Right now,' he smiled as he thought, 'life couldn't get any better.'

Auto noticed the content smile on Walter's face and smiled himself contemplating himself on the recent events as he and Walter worked to repair the damaged console, systematically eliminating their only visible reminder at the station of their recent clash with Tilson.

He was free on the virus and the debilitating effects it had on his system, and with Walter's anti-viral modifications to his program, he won't have to worry about any more viral infections. And, they no longer had to be concerned about when they were going to be attacked next by Tilson. Life for both him and Walter was gradually getting back to what passed for 'normal' for both of them.

A/N: Sorry for the super loooong wait!!! My computer decided to have a hard drive meltdown on me. I couldn't save any of the old files, and my dumb-butt didn't back up any of the files. WAAAH! Now I gotta type in everything I've ever created!! And redownload--not to mention re-pay for--every file I've ever had on my old computer to my new computer. (Not to mention having to deal w/ a new, slightly more finicky operating system!) Ah. Gotta luv technology. grumbles as she is forced to type up her other Autman fics (I know I sure love Automan!) Enuf said.


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